













GopghtN? 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


Jr’; 


♦ 


/ 


DOGTOWN 



« 



. r.>>U . f 



;S-:V •*- • ’ '•■-If 

^11, ,/V. Jt--. .-. ^ 




'‘i j?^ \ 


ti. - •••^.'•i 


:*?'' -,■ -*, ■?^- - . ' .■>;a 

^ \ ■ 


yY^ 


W:-$ 

’'^5 '* t* 




Ic 




\ 'jr* ^ > ,. » > 

!»:••»»-; .;;• 

|L^« -k u , ♦< - 

* ’ • .» 7^ 4 



t 



After the Battle 


See page 99 





DOGTOWN 


BEING SOME CHAPTERS FROM THE ANNALS OF 
THE WADDLES FAMILY, SET DOWN IN 
THE LANGUAGE OF HOUSEPEOPLE 


MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

AUTHOR OF “ TOMMY-ANNE,” “THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE” 
“ BIRDCRAFT,” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS FROM LIFE 
BY THE AUTHOR 





THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 


LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 

1902 


All rights reserved 


THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 
Two Copttb RtcsivED 

NOV, 6 1902 

<rn*VRIO«T FNTBV 

JViTO.b 

CLASS ^.XXo No. 

V'T'A-ArV 

COPY 8. 


Copyright, 1902, 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and electrotyped October, 1902. 


Norbioob ^ress 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 




“ Such soft, warm bodies to cuddle, 
Such queer little hearts to beat ; 
Such swift, round tongues to kiss. 
Such sprawling, cushiony feet. 

She could feel in her clasping fingers 
The touch of the satiny skin. 

And a cold, wet nose exploring 
The dimples under her chin.” 





Jl^iS Book 
i5 for 
all tt?os^ 
uyl^o lou^ 
el7ildre9 
at)d do(^5 








CHAPTER PAGE 


I. 

lEnter fUrs. OTatilileg , 

1 

II, 

ILettg antJ f^amlet 

. 28 

III, 

^Trouble 13egm0 . . , , 

. 60 

IV, 

lExit iLumbcrleg 0 . , , . 

, 81 

V, 

Jack anb Jill TOabblc 0 . 

. 104 

VI, 

Stable 13oarticr0 .... 

. 138 

VII. 

Jibe ©’clock ©ca 0 . , , , 

. 171 

VIII, 

^ ^tn ^^artg .... 

. 201 

IX. 

?^crb Mitel) .... 

. 220 

X. 

^Eolb bg tftc iFire .... 

. 247 

XI. 

“ ©ber tf)c ?^ill 0 anb iFar ^biag I ” 

, 274 

XII. 

©f)e Siilct 0 

. 300 

XIII. 

Ben 5Enca0’0 3La0t i^imt 

. 331 

XIV. 

2ri)c Barbcb Mire iFcncc 

. 367 

XV. 

STlje SSEcbbing .... 

. 399 


ix 



'■>» 



.ii: ... i' ■ad.ji*. 


■ .T*i.y /• •’ 








V 4-^fi * 

% » r Si ' 


•« i» T"- ■ ^ 


jr "'IT..' . ? . ‘ 

.••*', >\j'^ ,. nf . V ’T.' 


■. .V % \ 


^ ' 0 ?? '•* j. - 

Sp. H' 

w f- i a 

“ a .vJ.Nk 






%vi 



i 







■bw 



1 41 


•\ -V 


t 4 





'V,®' -v-;; ... 


* * • F ^ II 

"'■ .'^ti . 


I 


I < 



^ .V fh, .A.i .. , 

. . 4|^_^. , mm 


. 'dk*' ‘-<f. SJ" 

... •r** - 


• i)‘. 





M 







Angel Dogs. 


lllu$tratioi>5 


FULL PAGES 


After the Battle Frontispiece 


Dinah, Lark, Ph(ebe, anh Bobwhite . 

The Mayor of Dogtown . , . . . 

Happy’s First View of AVaddles. 

Miss Letty ........ 

Tommy and Lttmberlegs ...... 

“ He stood transfixed” ...... 

Miss Muffet, Brother, and Lu.mberi.e(;s 
Toad Hunting ........ 

“Anne drew back the curtain and looked out 
Anne and Tommy ....... 

AVaddles baying the Owls . . . . . 

“ AA’^addles drew back and eyed it ruefully” 

“ One lump or two, please ? ” . 

The Herb AVitch ....... 

Miss Letty feeding the Kennel Dogs 


PAGE 

vii 

15 

22 

38 


✓ 






X 


01 

70 

102 ^ 

118 

134 


147 ^ 
163 ^ 


168 

181 

240 ^ 
271 ^ 


XI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


xii 

PAGE ^ 

“ Pulling a branch down with her whip ” . . 277 

“He stood in his gateway holding his gun” . . 286 -y 

Antonio and the Young Spaniels .... 292 

The Sixlets 301 

Naming the Pups 318 ^ 

On Guard 326 ^ 

The Reward • 347 y 

Ben Uncas 354 

Jim (Seeley photo) 362 

“Miss Letty was waiting with a smile” . . . 377 

Tommy walked on in Silence ..... 381 

Tommy meets the Rabbit 385 V 

IN TEXT 

Mrs. Waddles ......... 1 

Aunt Prue and the Cat Basket ..... 8 

Waddles greeting Aunt Prue ..... 12 

Anne and Fox. . . . . . . . .30 

Hamlet Begging (Pach photo) ..... 43 

Hamlet Reading (Pach photo) 46 

Mr. Hugh’s Horse ........ 54 

“His heavy curls were a mat of mud and burrs” 58 
“The mail bag swinging from its gallows” . . 64 

Lily 65 

The Game of Snatch Bone . . . . . .71 

Waddles Dethroned 74 

Lumberlegs 81 

Waddles sniffing the Morning Air .... 90 

When Waddles was III 100 

Jack and Jill Waddles 104 

Curiosity 115 

Wrestling ......... 121 

“Jack watched her out of the corner of one eye” 127 

Jack Waddles 129 

The Jay at Breakfast 154 

An Owl Baby 158 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Xlll 


PAGE 


Mamma Owl 






160 

The Daytime Perch 






165 

“Butter’s come!” . 





, 

178 

“They were heralded by 

MUCH 

creaking of 

wheels” 

185 

Waddles finds the Cake 

Basket 




199 

A Hen Party . 






201 

At the Cross-roads 






221 

The Chicken Coop . 






227 

The Herb Witch’s Home 






228 

“ Also geese that make good 

GUIDE-; 

POSTS 


• 

246 

The Kennel Yard . 






256 

A Boarder 





, 

258 

The Puppies’ Bath-tub . 






262 

In the Kennel Kitchen 






265 

Martin baking Bread 





• 

266 

Ready for Travel . 






268 

Flo Pointing . 





. 

281 

Silver-Tongue 





. 

296 

Happy at Home 





. 

307 

Big Brother . 





. 

309 

In Mischief 





. 

312 

Leap-frog 





. 

322 

Out of School 





. 

324 

“Drink, puppy, drink!” 





. 

330 

Watching out , 





. 

335 

Quick .... 






338 

Colin .... 






344 

“A GREAT OWL WITH A SMOOTH 

ROUND 

head” 

383 

The Bride 





. 

401 

“Tommy shouted ‘me!’” 





• 

402 

“He succeeded in sitting upright” 



• 

404 

“Tip mounted guard until night came” 


. 

405 




• V 


14 ' A 'I 














‘it V 




y. 


r. :•■ ’ 






f \ 


PTTT^V ' ■ ‘ :^ "9 


;/ * 


wt 






t'^! 


I ‘"4 » 


'.tP 


V ; *.» 


iJ*-' ' 


vr *1* 




v^: 


i£.^ f ^ 




M 


■<% 


7*. 




If 




'v:--: 


• *> 


I f 


r 4 K. 


''h 


•# ^1 


iV f 


i ^ 




.0> ,1 


.M?i 


» .V 


J» 






r # 


« • 






t> 


!• 


I 


;.V7^’ 


*-i 


, I 


f ii 


.i 


f • t 


A 


V 


« t 




I'l,*' • 


ffA ^ 


t - * 


4* 


.* *^1 




1*^ 


▼« 




V - 










r* 


A ■Si: 


M « J-- 


> I 


I • 


V 


' 4 : 




I* 


j - 


' > / -i . 




i*r^ ’i' 


'’<V\ 


k'* V 




r 


t* 




«e*^- 




I'Oj 




-k .■. 


Vi 






W 


• ,V1’ 1.3!.- 








Mr- 




J. 


»’, 




♦ 4 




i I 




‘ r’. 


V ' A I ^ 

• VJ 


• *.-.i 




■ ‘ ; 

■. #;• ’ . J I : 

'L* ’-^ ' ' ^ 

.V)<V N 

^■^•k>,;; ■'.?■?;■- V 

‘ - J ■/ • »'i_ . J M 




& 




IV=*« 




f _ 



r 


• V 


JV 


V 1 


1^' 


5' * ^iuWV-S 'A? 'V 'iLw 

v“* ♦ ' I * ^ €% * * 



»' S-, f •■ ' K,- ■ ‘ J."* /■.■«!£ 

BK ■ ' . .: ?/ -w r j'-- .bp. ■ •.* 

!vl» 



I , ^;._ u 




'-tiV' ■ -i' . 

'>»4-. , ^ k-^-rfa ^ 

‘tf 


.4 ^ • . 

' 1.-44 

.1 % A^ . 


Li9 ^ *• 




DOGTOWN 


CHAPTER I 

ENTER MRS. WADDLES 

Happy sat by the watering-trough, waiting for 
Baldy to come for the milking pails and go for the 
cows. 



1 



2 


DOGTOWN 


Waddles, lying on the sunny side of the lilac 
hedge, was also waiting for this important evening 
happening; and though nothing in his appearance 
told that he was on the watch, for his back was 
toward the barn, yet he would know when Baldy 
crossed the yard to wash his hands at the pump, 
gauge the time he took to reach the house, and, 
without hurrying or looking round, be at his side 
the moment that the clashing of tin told that he 
had really come for the pails. 

Seated on the stone wall, Anne and Miss Letty 
were also waiting, partly for Baldy, but chiefly to 
hear the evening music that would soon come from 
the wooded field edge and near-by garden, for it 
was a lovely May afternoon. In the morning 
there had been a warm rain that made worm 
pulling and bug hunting a pleasure instead of 
labour for the birds, and the air was full of scraps 
of song. 

You have not met Happy before, or Miss Letty 
either. Happy was a beagle hound, with long, 
tan-coloured ears, the daintiest bit of a nose, a 
plump body marked and ticked with tan and 
black, and eyes of such beseeching softness that if 
she but looked at you when you were eating, you 
were impelled to give her the very last morsel, no 
matter what your hunger might be. 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


8 


Her legal name and pedigree was recorded in the 
Westminster Kennel Club register as “Cadence 
out of Melody, by Flute, breeder J. Sanford, Hill- 
top Kennels,” and really for two years of her 
life she had been merely a kennel dog. Now 
she was a lady of distinction, a real person be- 
loved of Anne, Happy, of Happy Hall, mother of 
twin pups. Jack and Jill, and wife of no less hon- 
ourable a person than Waddles, who, now past mid- 
dle age, portly and sedate, was Mayor of Dogtown 
and an undisputed authority on all matters of dog 
law and etiquette. 

If you should look for Dogtown on the map 
of the county where Happy Hall, Anne’s home, is 
located, you would not find it, for it is really con- 
cealed under the pretty name of W oodlands, and 
was discovered quite by accident by Anne’s Aunt 
Prue. 

Now Aunt Prue was one of those ladies who 
prefer indoors to outdoors, and cats to dogs. The 
“ Fireside Sphinx ” has many virtues, and its rights 
should be respected, only it is a very strange thing 
that people who love cats cannot seem to fully 
appreciate dogs, which of course are the superior 
animals. 

One day, a couple of years before this time, 
when Lumberlegs, the St. Bernard, then an awk- 


4 


DOGTOWN 


ward pup, was a new arrival, and the Widow Dog 
Lily, who had been rescued from starving by Miss 
Jule, had been adopted by Tommy and become his 
guardian. Aunt Prue had come unexpectedly to 
pay her brother, Anne’s father, a visit. 

She had not intended to arrive unannounced, 
for she liked to be met by the best go-to-meeting 
surrey and pair. But travelling and even plan- 
ning for it always flustered her ; and when she 
wrote to tell of her plans, after spoiling three 
sheets of paper, she directed the letter to an- 
other brother in Texas. Consequently, when 
she arrived at the Woodlands station at noon 
of a blazing July day, — she always took mid- 
day trains, it’s apt to thunder in the afternoon, — 
there was no one there to meet her. “ No, marm, 
no hacks here to-day,” said the station master in 
answer to her request for one ; “ no use in ’phon- 
ing the stable either, all the teams here about have 
gone to the Sunday-school picnic, and I reckon 
the only folks to home is dogs.” So saying he 
banged down his office window and drifted across 
the road to dinner. 

Aunt Prue paused and set down a stout wicker 
basket with an open-work top that she carried, 
straightened her bonnet, felt in her glove to be 
sure that her trunk check and return ticket were 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


5 


safe. She always bought a return ticket as a sort 
of guarantee of safety, but usually lost it before it 
could be used. 

She looked up the hill road. There was the 
store and post-office, then a quarter of a mile of 
open before the shade began, not a living thing 
was in sight; it was too hot for even the chickens 
to scratch up the dust. 

The basket at her feet began to roll about un- 
cannily, for in it was Miss Prue’s tortoise-shell 
tabby cat, which she always took visiting when 
she was going to stay more than two nights. In 
politics Miss Prue was a stanch monarchist of the 
old-time, “ off-with-his-head ” variety. The cat's 
name was Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, and never, 
even in the most informal and playful moments, 
was she called either Gussie or Vic. 

A violent scratching in the basket was followed 
by a long-drawn meow ! Miss Prue took a small 
tin pan from her satchel and went toward the 
pump to give the pet a drink ; but as she only 
pumped a couple of strokes, the water was tepid 
and not to her taste. She always gave the cat iced 
Avater, so she put up the tin. Poor K. A. V., 
smothering in the basket, would have been grate- 
ful for a lap of anything that was Avet — even pud- 
dle water or sour milk ; but she Avas not consulted. 


6 


DOGTOWN 


and her temper waxed fierce. If people could 
only realize that the faults of their pets are chiefly 
of their own making, they would be more careful 
to look at those things that concern an animal 
from its point of view instead of their own. 

With one more glance at the road, Miss Prue 
settled the basket firmly on her arm and trudged 
off. Augusta Victoria was not happy and, more- 
over, she was determined to get out of the basket. 

For a few moments she sat in sullen silence 
making herself heavy, as only an animal being 
moved against its will knows how to do. The 
post-office was reached, and Miss Prue paused a few 
moments to rest on the steps. Happy thought I 
There was a late morning mail ; perhaps the family 
had not yet called for it, as they were sure to do, 
for her brother being a literary man was very par- 
ticular about his letters. She would inquire. 

“ Nope,” replied the girl who was tending office 
during the noon hour and preparing to hie to the 
picnic later by taking her hair out of curl papers 
and combing it into a mossy-looking bank above 
her freckled forehead, “ your folks live beyond a 
mile, and the rural delivery fetches ’em their 
letters most times.” 

Poor Miss Prue ! She crossed over to “ the 
leading grocer’s,” where “ soft drinks ” were con- 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


7 


spicuously advertised, and asked for a bottle of 
sarsaparilla. 

“ Sorry, madam,” said the solitary clerk, popping 
up in some confusion. He was finishing his toilet, 
preparatory to leaving, by shaving himself at a 
scrap of mirror resting on the cash register, and 
he came forward hurriedly with a billow of lather 
where his chin should have been. “ I very much 
regret to say that all our liquid refreshments ex- 
cept molasses and vinegar are sold out on account 
of the picnic, but we still have a few Uneeda 
biscuits, madam, and a small wedge of superior 
extra mild cheese, if it would serve you for a 
luncheon. Ah, a drink ! You don't need a bis- 
cuit, not juicy enough. Ha ! ha ! I see,” and the 
chinless gentleman retired, laughing at his own 
wit. 

Miss Prue merely gasped and walked on without 
answering. K. A. V. took a turn at scratching 
and lunging and then remained so passive that 
her mistress began to have qualms lest she should 
have fainted, yet did not dare open the basket. 
She leaned against the fence and listened, puss 
was breathing. The few cottages along the way 
were closed and silent ; but as she got farther on 
where the larger places were scattered, her courage 
arose, for she remembered that the Burgess model 


8 


DOGTOWN 



farm barns were on the way, and that there was a 
well close by the fence. 

Yes, there it was surely, with a bright clean 
dipper hanging by it. 

She put down the basket carefully, quenched her 
thirst, and then, after bathing her forehead with 

her handkerchief, 
was feeling in 
her bag for pus* 
sy’s dish, when a 
bumping sound 
made her drop it 
and turn hastily. 
K. A. V. had made 
a sudden spring, 
the basket was 
plunging down 
the bank, followed 
by an inquisitive 
fox terrier. Just 
as the basket 
stopped rolling 
the cat gave a ter- 
rified yowl, and 
the terrier started 
back, but only for 
a moment. 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


9 


Miss Prue seized the basket and looked about, 
calling in vain for help, but no one came, only 
more dogs, so she hurried back to the road, closing 
the gate behind her in frantic haste. 

But what is a bar gate to dogs? Those that 
could neither get under or through, jumped over, 
for the dogs at the Burgess farm were always in 
fine condition. A second fox terrier sprang 
between the bars, a black>and-tan dachshund 
crawled under, while almost at the same time a 
collie and a greyhound cleared the top rail. 

They were polite, gentlemanly dogs, fortunately, 
and accustomed to the best society. They never 
thought of touching Miss Prue ; but in spite of her 
gestures turned their attention to the basket, snif- 
fing and jostling it and saying things in a way to 
put Augusta Victoria into a frenzy. 

As the strange party went up the hill, the 
pioneer terrier running ahead seemed to spread 
the news, for dogs of all degrees kept joining the 
procession : the great woolly St. Bernard, Rex, 
from the doctor’s piazza, the farrier’s mongrel 
black-and-tan, who happened to be coming across 
lots, two loping foxhounds who belonged to 
Squire Burley and had been taking a run on 
their own account, the minister’s water spaniel, 
the schoolmistress’s pug, a white bull terrier, a 


10 


DOGTOWN 


comical -looking sheep clog from the milk farm, and 
lastly, a fantastically arrayed black poodle, with 
his wool trimmed into as many devices as the 
tattooing on a Fiji Islander, a silver bangle on one 
leg, and a crimson satin bow on his collar, joined 
the mob, in spite of the frantic calls of a maid on 
the steps of the select inn, who was striving to keep 
him clean while his owner was at luncheon; for this 
particular poodle had his teeth cleaned every day, 
could not roll in the dirt, and was not as other 
dogs, for which the others were doubtless thankful. 

In a moment, however, he was in the middle of 
the fray, having the time of his life, enveloped in 
a cloud of dust, uttering the shrieking bark in 
which a thoroughbred poodle excels, while the 
farrier’s cur promptly pulled the satin bow into 
a string, and the dachshund, who had difficulty in 
keeping up with the rest, nipped the hairless parts 
of his hind legs. 

Aunt Prue’s last hope lay in the sheriff ; he 
surely would not be at the picnic. But he was, 
and his two dogs. Schnapps and Friday, dozing on 
a wagon seat before the stable door, suddenly 
waked and joined the procession. 

Finding that gestures and threats were useless. 
Aunt Prue kept sturdily on, shifting the basket 
from one arm to the other as its weight increased; 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


11 


for Augusta Victoria, weight fifteen pounds, 
springing lightly up a tree, and A. V., dashing 
about in the basket at the end of a hot walk, 
were two wholly different cats. Under such 
circumstances “a mile’s weight” should be an 
allowable term. 

Just then she heard the rattle of a wagon com- 
ing up hill, and turned about, hoping for relief. 
In this wagon was an old man on his way home 
from the meadows, seated on an insecure load of 
salt hay, in which he was buried almost to the 
shoulders, while a strip of green cotton mosquito 
netting hanging from the edge of his wide hat, 
somewhat obscured his view of the scenery. 

To beg a ride was, under the circumstances, out 
of the question ; but Aunt Prue ventured to wave 
her satchel and to call out and ask him to drive 
the dogs away. But he was deaf to her entreaties, 
for the reason that he was stone deaf anyway ; and 
as to the rest, he merely thought he saw a vigorous, 
stout, middle-aged woman on her return from 
market with an unusual lot of dogs, whose dinner 
she carried in her basket ; and he drove on, trying 
to reckon how much it must cost to feed thirteen 
dogs, and set Aunt Prue down in his mind as 
“another fool woman.” 

At last she saw in the distance the stone wall 


12 


DOGTOWN 


that surrounded Happy Hall, and then a glimpse 
of the house through the trees revived her; but 
as she passed in the gateless entrance, two new 
and strange dogs greeted her, — Lily and Lum- 
berlegs, — both rather objected to the visitors, 
and suddenly Lily fastened her wide jaws upon 
the basket. 

Then at last poor Aunt Prue screamed loud and 
long, and Waddles, who had at first discreetly sur- 
veyed the proceedings from the porch, threw back 
his head and bayed. It was a very funny scene, 
though of course not nice for Aunt Prue ; but it 



ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


13 


often happens that funny things are disagreeable 
to somebody. 

At the double noise, doors flew open, Baldy 
ran from the stable, Anne, her father, mother, and 
one of the maids from the house, while Waddles 
danced about and issued dog orders with such 
good effect that by the combined efforts the in- 
truders were dispersed. Aunt Prue was ensconced 
in a piazza rocker and was being fanned by her 
gentle sister-in-law, Anne brought iced ginger ale, 
Baldy bore Augusta Victoria, basket and all, to a 
retired room in the barn, where she could be fed 
and calm her nerves, while the father by degrees 
unravelled the history of the walk. 

At first Aunt Prue had cried, but now she sat 
bolt upright and severe in her chair, talking be- 
tween sips of ginger ale that would get into her 
nose and give her a fuzziness of speech. 

“Yes — a most unparalleled — experience for a 
lone woman — in a civilized land — Woodlands 
you — call the place — faugh! — I say it’s nothing 
more or less than Dogtown, and it’s lucky I bought 
my return ticket. Poor Augusta Victoria’s nerves 
are shattered, not to speak of mine, and home we 
go by evening train.” 

She didn’t go, but stayed three weeks to a 
day, and had a very good time ; when she felt 


14 


DOGTOWN 


in her moist gloves for the ticket, it was gone as 
usual. But her story and name of Dogtown 
stayed with the region, and it tickled Miss Jule 
so, that the very next Christmas she gave Anne a 
large wooden box shaped like a doghouse, full of 
note-paper with a group of dogs’ heads and the 
words Happy Hall^ Dogtown^ stamped across the 
top in blue and gold, which Anne always used 
when writing invitations to picnics and other ex- 
cursions of which she was so fond. 

So in time it had come to be that Waddles 
was the acknowledged head of Dogtown and its 
people, these same being three times the number 
that had been the escort of Miss Prue and Augusta 
Victoria. For when people heard of the doings 
of the dogs at Happy Hall, and saw the beautiful 
setters, foxhounds, and field spaniels that Miss 
Jule raised in the Hilltop ^Kennels at the horse 
farm, every one wanted a dog of his or her own; 
and though Lily remained the only real bulldog 
in the community, there were several clever bull 
terriers, and Miss Letty brought back from her 
schooling abroad a wonderful black poodle, who 
understood three languages. 

Miss Jule’s dogs did not quite belong to Dog- 
town as citizens, because, being kennel dogs, they 
were not free to come and go and to express their 



P;p. 

:rv4 

y.~ 


• J&m - 

4 





-.1 




CT# <r ^ • 


>■»%::.■■ .. . »:. .. >, . 



■ ^V-' ,-. ^ 

w 


isr*./. 

^-r-r. •':f^ 


, ’» 'V 

* -’I -f^ 




■I 


vu ‘ ' * 


.*>'• Iv s* 

f. i'.- «;-•'• 

e;te 

S'.'#'' . 

# ' f * ^ w 

«.- 

'tv'- 

4 r >or .•^ 






^ ''V 





If • V.* * . 


i, ,^_f^'^': .,, 




i . 




• TW--*^‘ 
- . # 





L >-; -‘ -if 




Mi 



V- 






-Cl 



The Mayor of Dogtown 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


17 


opinions like the others. They were as boarding- 
school children, having fixed times for exercise and 
play, in comparison to those who, after school, run 
free. 

There are some children who, though they may 
have good dispositions, can never be happy when 
cooped up and restrained. Tommy- Anne had been 
one of these, and so when, a year before, she had 
seen Cadence the beagle sitting looking mourn- 
fully through the slat door of her kennel, where 
she had been shut by her trainer for being heed- 
less and unmanageable and not obeying his direc- 
tions, her heart smote her and she felt so intimate 
a kinship with the little animal with the hopeless 
eyes, that she went to Miss Jule to ask the price 
of Cadence and if she might pay for her by instal- 
ments. 

Miss Jule loved animals dearly, was tender- 
hearted, and had several pet dogs that were al- 
most human; but the kennel dogs were raised for 
sale, and must be taught the various trades that, 
together with their pure breeding, made them 
valuable and able to* earn their living. 

No cruelty was allowed in the training-and- 
breaking-to-hunt process, but they simply must 
learn. Martin, Baldy’s brother, who not only 
broke colts under Miss Jule’s supervision, but 


18 


DOGTOWN 


trained both fox and beagle hounds, had said of 
gentle- Cadence : “ She’s no mortal use for hunt- 
ing rabbits, she won’t mind if you chide her, unless 
your very eyes are upon her, she bolts at sight 
of a gun, won’t heel or gather with the others. 
We don’t need her for breeding, and I think she’d 
be better out of the way.” 

While Miss Jule was thinking over the matter, 
Anne had hurried home and counted the contents 
of her money box replete with the results of 
Christmas, a birthday, copying manuscript for her 
father, and various dealings in rags, bottles, and 
old iron. She had been saving seriously to buy 
a camera holding glass plates that she could de- 
velop herself, and so be able to take pictures of 
her dear woods and flowers, the dogs, and, best of 
all, of her father and mother as they walked out in 
the garden together in their everyday clothes. 

Thirty-seven dollars the money had footed up. 
The camera that she had chosen, together with the 
trays, drying rack, red lantern, some plates, etc., 
would be thirty dollars. Was it possible that 
Miss Jule would sell a thoroughbred rabbit hound 
for seven dollars ? 

Anne knew that she had often received a hun- 
dred dollars for a well-broken young hound ; but 
poor Cadence did not seem to be broken at all. 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


19 


except in spirit, so that might make a difference ; 
anyway, the camera could wait, for she kept see- 
ing those appealing eyes, and had an instinctive 
feeling that Cadence’s fate was in her hands. 

“Sell Cadence to you, so she needn’t be shut 
up so much? What will they say at home to 
another dog about ? You know it was only last 
week that Tommy told me that Lumberlegs and 
Lily grinned at each other ‘ awfully,’ and that 
Waddles would not let either of them go to walk 
with him. What will your mother say?” 

Anne had not thought of this, to be sure ; but 
no one at home had ever objected to any animals 
excepting white mice, and her mother had rebelled 
at having them kept in a bureau drawer, and finally 
put them under ban. 

As Anne grew older she was more drawn toward 
those of her own race than when as Tom my- Anne 
she had played alone; but the birds and little 
beasts were still her friends and brothers, and ever 
would be. She would, if possible, get Cadence 
from behind the bars and risk the consequences. 

“ What do you want her for ? She is either 
stupid or sullen, and will not even charge or come 
to heel; she will never learn anything.” 

“Please, Miss Jule, I don’t think she is stupid 
or ugly, only somehow she doesn’t understand; 


20 


DOGTOWN 


maybe she can’t think when she is shut up so 
much. You know that when I was little I could 
never learn lessons in school, but if I sat by father 
I couldn’t have helped learning if I had tried.” 

Miss Jule did not smile at the simple earnest- 
ness of the tall slip of a girl with the great 
dark eyes that looked so pleadingly at her, for 
Anne at fifteen believed as thoroughly in the 
brotherhood and rights of all living things as had 
Tommy-Anne at five. 

“Well, I’ll make a bargain with you,” she said 
at last ; “ you may have her on a week’s trial : if 
you like her, you shall have her at a reasonable 
price ” (for Miss Jule knew that with Anne’s ideas 
it would never do to offer her as a gift something 
she had offered to purchase) ; “ if you can’t manage 
her, you can bring her back. Perhaps Waddles 
may like her for a mate.” 

“ Here, take a leader,” called Miss Jule, as Anne 
darted off full of the new idea, “ she’s as likely to 
bolt off to the next county as to go home with, 
you.” 

Anne took the leather leash and hurried to 
open the door of the compartment in the kennel 
yard where Cadence sat looking wistfully out. 
After fastening the snap in the collar she tried 
to lead her out; but Cadence flattened herself to 



Happy' s First View of Waddles. 




.s ' 




. . ^ - S 1 L 









'f . r.l 


./I 


». .. 


.V> •'/» 




'N. « 



» [f 


I'S I 


\* 


<ri, 

4 , A ♦ 



t ^ 


‘>* ''■■ 


■V- 




^ ^ 1* 4 . T ^ T •• * 

“X. 




• • 1 ^ 


« I 






’ '• I* 


> 




V • ’ 


y ■• * ., 


' .ji\ 3 


• . ' .•'* 

. -iji -i * 

* vA'W 


,ri 


ir> V ^ I ' «*... * K • 1 ' ’ . ' . 

' fiL.' * * • , 


' 0. 


t . 


# > 1 - ^ 



^'•KK t 

-cv, 


> *:iS 

aI» a .•'* Aft . .j i» 




(/.'r S: . ,‘' »' 


• S'. 


L 


»1 




.- 4 *J 




« ^ '* 2 ^j 





ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


23 


the floor in an agony of fear, no coaxing, no gentle 
calling of her name produced the least effect, she 
squatted there motionless as a stone. 

Anne crouched upon the door-sill quite in 
despair, then she saw that Cadence’s eyes were 
fastened upon her face, so she smiled, chirruped to 
her, and tried what patting her back and smooth- 
ing her long ears would do. 

The effect was magical; the little hound stopped 
cowering, looked up, gave a spring, touching 
Anne’s finger-tips with her tongue, and walked off 
after her new mistress without further objection. 

In fact, as they took the downhill path toward 
home. Cadence led as if she was quite well aware 
where she was going, and she tugged and strained 
so on the leash when she came in sight of the 
house as to make Anne fairly trot. 

Then for the first time Anne thought of the 
objections that Waddles might make; for though 
he had chummed with Lumberlegs until recently, 
their relations were not wholly satisfactory, and 
as for Lily — well, he never interfered with her, 
but then also he never asked her to walk with him. 

As it chanced Waddles was standing in the 
middle of the walk sniffing the air, with a very 
sentimental expression on his mobile face. 

Anne slipped the leash, as it does not lead to 


24 


DOGTOWN 


friendliness when strange dogs meet to have 
one run free and the other chained. Before 
Waddles fully realized what had happened, before 
he could give a sniff or a growl, Cadence evidently 
captivated by his looks had bounded up, given 
him the coyest lick on the nose and sprung back 
again, her tail wagging in a complete circle and 
an unmistakable smile on her face. 

Thus taken by surprise Waddles surrendered, 
and by way of making the newcomer feel at home 
he raised his head, gave a bay, and then putting 
his nose to the ground found the trail he had been 
trying to locate, gave a short bark and started off 
in full cry. Cadence following and yelping madly. 

“She knows how to pick up a trail if she is 
stupid,” said Anne to herself ; “ but I wonder if 
she will come back here or go up to the Kennels. 
I think I will just go in and explain about her 
to mother while she has her run.” 

The explanation was fortunately satisfactory; 
but then Anne’s father and mother seldom ob- 
jected to anything unless it was unkind, danger- 
ous, or too expensive. 

In a quarter of an hour or so back came the 
pair, evidently the best of friends. Waddles allow- 
ing Cadence not only to drink from his dish, but 
to take a nicely ripened beef bone that he had 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


25 


partly buried under the big apple tree. This 
was a wonderful bit of condescension, as it is 
against the rules of Dogtown to dig up another’s 
bone, at least when the other is looking, and the 
offence is punishable with a ki-yi-ing and a real 
bite. 

“Mistress,” said Waddles, behind his paw as 
it were, “ that is a very beautiful young lady ; I will 
gladly share my bones with her, and that is some- 
thing that I have never done before,” which was 
perfectly true; for Waddles, besides being very 
strict about food etiquette, thought a good deal 
about what he ate. 

The next morning when Anne came down- 
stairs Cadence was lying on the steps with her 
back to the house. Anne called her and clapped 
her hands together, but she did not stir, yet the 
moment Anne’s footsteps jarred the boards Cadence 
turned and came to her side. 

Then the truth flashed upon Anne, the little 
hound was neither stupid nor disobedient, but 
almost stone deaf. She could not hear the voice, 
but felt the sound as it were from the footstep. 

“There, I told Miss Jule that you weren’t 
wicked, but that you couldn’t understand all that 
shouting and to-heeling, you dear little abused 
thing. Now I’ll know exactly how to treat you 


26 


DOGTOWN 


and what to expect.” And Anne held the pretty, 
soft paws in one hand while she lifted the dog’s 
face so that it might see what she said. 

Truly, then. Cadence understood once and for 
all, and when puzzled always looked in her mis- 
tress’s face. 

When Miss Jule heard the story, she questioned 
all at the Horse F'arm and about the Kennels 
closely, and found that once, when Cadence was a 
pup of less than a year, a gun had burst quite 
close to her head. 

“ Now,” said Anne, triumphantly, “you see why 
she was gun shy, and deaf, and everything. You 
know. Miss Jule, animals are hardly ever bad ; 
it’s mostly something what we’ve done ourselves, 
and it’s being a kennel dog, too. You see you can 
never be really intimate with them, and know 
their troubles as I do Waddles.” 

Miss Jule sighed, for she knew it was true. 

^ ^ * 

From that day onward Cadence was a new dog, 
no longer sad eyed, though she knew mighty well 
how to plead for what she wanted with those 
golden brown eyes, but the most joyous thing 
alive. 

She was pleased if she had a bone, or equally 


ENTER MRS. WADDLES 


27 


pleased with a dog biscuit, happy to go to walk, 
happy to stay at home ; her face wore a perpetual 
smile, aud her tail a ceaseless wag. 

“ Let us call her something different from that 
old kennel name, even if she can’t hear it,” said 
Anne, one day six months later, as they stood 
watching Cadence tending her first children, the 
fascinating twins. Jack and Jill, and teaching 
them to lap milk. 

“ Yes,” assented Tommy, who stood by, ponder- 
ing as to how soon the pups might be harnessed 
to a toy cart ; “ let’s call her Happy ^ she is always 
80 glad.” And Happy it is — Mrs. Happy Wad- 
dles of Happy Hall. 

“ Now there’s something else between us be- 
sides not understanding things when we are shut 
up,” said Anne, making the hound stand up and 
put both paws in her lap. “We are both named 
one thing and called another ; for you probably 
don’t know, my dear, unless Waddles has told you, 
that my true name is Diana, after the hunting 
lady, and really I think some night this fall I’ll 
live up to it and go out with you and Waddles 
to hunt rabbits.” 

So this is the annal of the coming of Happy, 
wife of Waddles, Mayor of Dogtown. 


CHAPTER II 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 

Spring always brought many arrivals at Miss 
Jule’s farm, so that Anne and Tommy found some 
new animal at every visit : either an awkward, 
frolicsome colt, a fawn-eyed J ersey calf, or a litter 
of pups; for Miss Jule was so successful in rear- 
ing healthy animals that those she could not keep 
met with a ready sale everywhere. 

The children went up nearly every afternoon 
in fine weather, riding their bicycles all but the 
steepest part of the way, and having a safe and 
easy coast back, for the road was broad, smooth as 
a floor, and there were no cross-roads the entire 
length of the slope, cross-roads being very bad 
things for coasters either on wheels or sleds. 

Anne, however, did not care about wheeling as 
much as for riding horseback. During the past 
two years Miss Jule’s old brown horse Fox, though 
well on in his twenties, had been a safe mount 
for her, as well as an intelligent companion. Of 
28 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


29 


course she never rode very fast, and was always 
careful to walk him down hills ; as old horses, no 
matter if they are thoroughbreds, sometimes kneel 
at the wrong time. But he was very clever at 
taking narrow paths through the woods, and 
keeping clear of the trees, walking up the little 
brook which was one of Anne’s favourite pas- 
times, witliout pawing the water and soaking her 
skirt. 

Anne’s father had a beautiful young horse Tom, 
which he both rode and drove, but who did not 
like side-saddles, and did not intend wearing one. 
So one day when Anne had iddden him up through 
the orchard pasture to look for the cows that had 
gone astray, he first tried to scrape her off by 
squeezing against the tree trunk, and then, when 
she dismounted to see if the saddle or girths could 
possibly gall him, he took a roll in the spring, 
saddle and all, and galloped home, leaving Anne 
to walk. 

So Fox remained her pet, and all she had to do 
to make him come when she wanted a ride was to 
go to the pasture, where he spent his days luxuri- 
ously shod with rubber tips, or to the barnyard, 
where he was watered, and say “ Fox ! ” ever so 
softly, and he would come trotting up, to be either 
petted or saddled, eager to nibble the bit of sugar, 


30 


DOGTOWN 



carrot, or bunch of clover that she always brought 
him, putting back his ears meanwhile in pure mis- 
chief, and pretending to bite her fingers, while his 
nostrils seemed 
to quiver with 
laughter at the 
joke. 

In the middle 
days of this par- 
ticular spring, 
the one that 
came before the 
summer when 
Waddles and 
L u m b e r 1 e g s 
had their great 
fight, it was nei- 
ther Fox nor 
the new calves 
that drew Anne 
so often to the 
Hilltop Farm, 
but Miss Letty and Hamlet : Miss Letty being 
neither calf, colt, nor puppy, but a very pretty 
girl, and Hamlet a worldly-wise French poodle. 

Miss Letty was the orphan niece of Miss Jule, 
the child of her only brother who had lived abroad 



MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


31 


for many years, married a French lady, and died 
there. Miss Letty had been sent to an English 
and then a French school by another aunt, her 
mother’s sister ; now as her father had willed it, 
she had come on a visit to America, so that she 
might see his country and choose with which aunt 
she preferred to make her home. 

When Anne heard that Miss Jule’s niece was 
coming to make a visit half a year long, and that 
she had a pet dog, she was very much excited, 
for Anne was beginning to long for a companion 
of her own age. She only hoped that Waddles 
would like the dog visitor, and then they four 
could take lovely excursions together afoot and 
on horseback, that is, if a girl from a French 
boarding-school knew how to manage horses ; if 
she didn’t, of course she could ride Fox until she 
learned. 

Anne did not know exactly how old Letty was, 
though of course Miss Jule did ; but she always 
thought and spoke of her as a schoolgirl, and 
told Anne that it would be a fine chance to im- 
prove her French, and that in return she could 
teach Letty about wood things, for Letty had 
been brought up almost altogether in the city. So 
Anne wondered whether she knew enough French 
to make Letty understand, and went about talking 


32 


DOGTOWN 


to herself and all the animals on the place in such 
words as she knew, much to the confusion and 
disgust of Waddles, who recognized something 
familiar in the invitation to aller d la poste^ yet 
did not quite understand it as the usual invitation 
to “go to the post-office.” 

At first Tommy had not been interested. “ If 
it was a rather big boy with a real gun that 
was coming, we could go hunting together and 
have some fun next cold weather when the bunnies 
come out. Girls aren’t much good excepting Anne, 
and even she don’t seem to care for guns either,” 
he said. 

Tommy’s latest treasure was a spring shot-gun 
that went ofp with an alarming pop, but for which 
he had no ammunition, so as yet he went about, 
cocking, aiming, and firing at imaginary big game, 
— real squirrels and crows, — quite content to see 
them scurry away in alarm ; at the same time being 
careful, as his father had charged him, never to 
point it at people, for this is a “ mustn’t be ” of 
a real gun, which a boy must learn by heart before 
he can even dream of owning one. 

When one Saturday morning Martin, who lived 
at the Hilltop Farm, came with a note saying that 
Miss Letty and Hamlet had arrived, and that 
Miss Jule would be happy to have Anne and 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


33 


Tommy come up to dinner, Tommy forgot his 
poor opinion of girls in general and was as eager 
as Anne herself. 

Miss Jule kept to the country habit of a one 
o’clock dinner, and had a hearty but movable tea 
at the end of day, when for six months of the 
year one begrudges spending much time indoors. 
As the note came before nine o’clock, it was too 
much to expect that the children should wait 
until nearly dinner time before accepting the invi- 
tation. 

“ Of course,” said Anne, in explanation of start- 
ing at ten o’clock, “ at most places it doesn’t do 
to go until a few minutes before you are asked, 
because the people may be busy, or making the 
dessert, or not dressed ; but Miss J ule is always 
busy, has fruit for dessert, and is never dressed, 
so she’s quite as ready one time as another,” which 
somewhat startling statement of Anne’s did not 
mean that Miss Jule was a clothesless savage, but 
simply that, without the useless state of fuss and 
feathers known as “ being dressed,” she was 
always ready to have her friends come and take 
her as they found her, which was usually doing 
something interesting. 

Waddles had an extra brushing in honour of go- 
ing out to dine, for he also had several friends at 


34 


DOGTOWN 


the Hilltop Kennels with whom he exchanged 
very pleasant calls. In fact, they belonged to his 
particular hunting-club, that admitted only the 
most discreet citizens of Dogtown, and had a lim- 
ited membership. 

With the regular kennel dogs Waddles had 
only a sniffing acquaintance, which is the same as 
a mere bowing acquaintance among house people. 
But besides - these dogs that were bought and 
sold, trained for hunting and sent travelling about 
to shows and field trials. Miss Jule had four who 
were pets and house fourfoots, even though two 
were rather large for this purpose. 

These were Mr. Wolf, whose registered name 
was Ben Uncas, a long-coated St. Bernard, with 
beautiful silky hair, and a very gentle face that 
belied the fact that he was a mighty hunter, who 
seemed to have a little wolf blood in his veins ; 
Quick, the most agile and impertinent of fox ter- 
riers; Tip, a retrieving spaniel, in size between a 
field and a cocker, who wore a coat of wavy golden 
red hair, and rivalled even Waddles in wisdom ; 
and Colin, an Irish setter, big for his breed, and 
as clumsy and affectionate as a well-bred dog 
could be. 

Colin could boast a Dogtown record almost as 
free from fighting as Waddles, but for a different 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


35 


reason. He was handsome, but not over valiant, 
and when some indiscretion of his aroused the ire 
of another dog, Colin would immediately roll over 
on his back and kick his four legs so fast that 
his confused opponent could get no grip what- 
ever, and usually found that he had urgent busi- 
ness on the other side of the street. 

Anne and Tommy rode up the long hill very 
slowly, partly because it was rather early, and 
partly because they had on fresh wash suits for the 
first time that season, and wash suits look best be- 
fore they are withered. At least Anne thought 
of this, for she had heard that Miss Letty had 
money enough to buy all the pretty clothes she 
wished, and likely as not she might wear muslin 
shirt waists and lots of pretty ribbons. Though 
Anne did not bother much about her dresses, and 
had not worn her best frock, lest she might wish 
to play, she felt more comfortable to know that 
her cambric gown with its plain, turnover collar 
was clean, and that her cherry-coloured hair rib- 
bons were new and had not been “retrieved” by 
the whole Waddles family in turn. 

“ I know it’s rather early,” said Anne, after 
greeting Miss Jule, who for a wonder was sitting 
in idleness amid an unusual number of vases that 
waited for flowers on the side porch that over- 


36 


DOGTOWN 


looked the prim, old-fashioned garden ; “ but I 
thought we could see the new setter pups if Miss 
Letty was busy or tired or anything ; and if she 
wasn’t, we could play hide-and-seek with her and 
Mr. Wolf and Waddles up in the corn-field. 
Some of the last year’s stacks are there yet, and 
we can creep into them finely. Her dog may not 
know how to play, and we can teach him.” 

Miss Jule gave a queer little short laugh, started 
to say something, stopped with a very funny ex- 
pression on her plain, jolly face, and said : 
“ It’s not at all too early. Letty is over there in 
the garden beyond the hedge, getting me some 
flowers for these big jars. You can introduce your- 
selves, and ask her to play hide-and-seek, only 
I’m afraid that Waddles will not like Hamlet. 
Tip was so rude that I’ve had to tie him up.” 

Anne called Waddles, who was talking to Mr. 
Wolf in his day retreat under the steps, and 
went down the path with Tommy, not noticing 
that Mr. Wolf, Quick, and Colin were following, 
or that Tip joined the trio as soon as they were 
past the lilac hedge, showing by his collarless 
condition that he had broken jail. 

As the children looked about they did not see 
any little girl. Ah, yes, there was a flutter of 
white the other side of the bulb beds, so they 



Miss Letty 











. f 


- 1 »- 




.'■rf.TV.'^*’-- 


« ^ ^ 


» 

k.« < 


• ^ 





4 



> 








k 



\ 







’ i 


« 


>> 




, • 







\ 


% 



MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


39 


turned in that direction to find a young lady 
standing among the borders, dressed in such 
dainty, lovely, flower-coloured clothes as they had 
never seen before, at least, never in a garden. 
One slender white hand hung by her side, while 
the other grasped the iris stalks. They could not 
see her face because of the lace that drooped from 
her hat, but her hair was light brown, and as 
fluffy as thistle-down. 

Could this be the little girl companion that 
Anne had longed for ? Her heart fell in disap- 
pointment. Yes, it must be, for there was no 
one else in the garden. 

“ She is a grown-up young lady, with gowns 
that wiggle on the ground, and all our fun is 
spoilt,” said Anne, softly, checking Tommy who 
was about to call out. 

Tommy, how'ever, was not so sure that he was 
disappointed ; the pretty girl attracted him, and 
he walked directly toward her. At that moment 
Waddles, catching sight of a strange-looking dog, 
partly hidden in the grass, gave a bark, and the 
face under the broad hat turned toward them, 
opened its mduth and spoke, setting their doubts 
as to its being Miss Letty at rest. 

“ This is Anne I know,” said a delightful, laugh- 
ing voice, that spoke every word distinctly, with 


40 


DOGTOWN 


hardly a bit of accent, and yet had an intimate 
sound, “and Tommy, too. Ah, yes, I know you 
very well, and if you’d not come to see me this 
morning, I should have called upon you this after- 
noon. I suppose that dear dog with the long 
ears is Waddles, come to be introduced to Ham- 
let,” and she raised an odd silver whistle that hung 
from her belt by a chain and gave two short calls. 

“ Yes, we came as soon after Miss Jule sent the 
note as we could,” said Tommy, collecting himself 
more quickly than Anne, “though mother said 
dinner at one meant not to start before half-past 
twelve. But we didn’t know that you were so 
old or could talk our way, and Anne thought she 
must speak French, and she’s been muttering all 
the way up, though Waddles and I didn’t like it, 
for we think American is good enough for any- 
body. Besides, Anne said perhaps you’d like to 
play hide-and-seek up in the corn-field. You see, 
we didn’t know you were a kind of flower fairy.” 

Then Miss Betty’s eyes met Anne’s, and they 
both burst into a merry laugh that made them 
fast friends, while she shook hands heartily with 
Tommy instead of kissing his little pug nose as 
she wished, which would have offended him as 
being babyish. 

“ Certainly, I will play hide-and-seek if you will 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


41 


tell me precisely what you expected to find me, 
Miss Anne. I think that you look disappointed.” 

“ I’m not Miss, I’m only plain Anne, who used 
to be Tommy- Anne until six years ago, when 
Tommy came ; at least I’m called Anne, because I 
don’t like my real name, Diana. You know so 
few people say it nicely, and Obi calls it Dinah, 
the same as the fat coloured woman’s name who 
lives up the road and launders our very best 
things.” 

“Is your name really Diana? ” cried Miss Letty, 
clapping her hands in delight. “It is the name 
of one of my dearest friends at school, whom I 
miss dreadfully, and who had dark hair and eyes 
like yours. I will call your name smoothly like 
this, Diane^ the French way, for it is a pleasure to 
me, and then perhaps you will grow to like it ; for 
a girl who loves horses and dogs could not be 
named better.” 

“ Yes, Miss Letty, I think I do like it already, and' 
I might as well tell you that I thought you would 
be a girl like me, so that Ave could tramp about 
and do things together, and take pictures when I 
get my new camera, and I did think you might like 
to play hide-and-seek this morning with our dogs, 
and teach yours how, but of course — ” 

“ Of course I shall be charmed to play hide-and- 


42 


DOGTOWN 


seek, and be your companion, even if I am very 
old, — quite eighteen. Come, we will begin now 
as soon as I take these flowers to my aunt,” and 
she gathered the iris into the skirt of her dainty 
gown upon which tiny violets formed stripes that 
matched the iris in colour. 

“/shall call you ‘flower lady,’” said Tommy, 
decidedly, with a sturdy expression of face that 
quite settled the matter as far as he was con- 
cerned. 

“Now I’m ready, but where is Hamlet?” said 
Letty, after she had given Miss Jule the flowers. 
“Ah, here he comes, and a chance also to try your 
French, Diane, for the only English word he 
knows is his name. Now for hide-and-seek.” 

“ But surely you aren’t going to wear your best 
gown and slippers to play hide-and-seek in the 
corn-field and woods for there are lots of old briers 
and prickly things,” expostulated Anne, glancing 
at Miss J ule ; but as the latter went on arranging 
her flowers and said nothing, Anne feared she had 
been rude. 

“ This isn’t a best gown, only a muslin — see, I 
can hold it up so,” and Miss Letty threw the 
trailing skirt over her arm, showing an underskirt 
so frail that plainly clad Anne nearly gasped in 
spite of herself. “ And I never wear thick shoes ; 


MISS LENITY AND HAMLET 


43 



in fact, I haven’t any, though they might be 
useful here.” 

Then she turned and began chatting gayly in 
French to Hamlet who came down the path, look- 
ing somewhat anxiously behind him. As a dog 
of his breed Hamlet was doubtless quite perfect ; 
but to Anne, accustomed to the rough-and-ready 
citizens of Dogtown, 
to whom a bath and 
a brushing was full 
dress, his costume was 
rather startling. His 
long hair, which on 
his crown and shoul- 
ders hung in stringy 
curls like a mop, was 
shaved close on the 
lower part of his 
body, with the excep- 
tion of a tuft on each 
hip and bands around 
his ankles. His clean- 
shaven face was dec- 
orated by a long 
mustache, he wore a 
silver bangle collar 
run with blue ribbon 



44 


DOGTOWN 


that hardly showed amid his curls, and a bracelet 
on one ankle. At a signal from his mistress he 
sprang upon a low wicker stand that served as a 
porch tea table, sat erect, and saluted. 

Tommy was delighted, of course, and Miss Letty 
made him do all his tricks, of which he knew as 
many as a circus dog. He waltzed, he said his 
prayers, he fetched a handkerchief from Miss 
Letty’s room, although he had only been in the 
house two days, and so on, ending by turning 
three somersaults and barking like mad when 
Miss Letty waved her handkerchief and cried, 
“ Vive la Republique ! ” 

“ What do you think of Hamlet ? ” asked Miss 
Letty, throwing herself into a hammock to get 
her breath. “ Can Waddles do as many tricks ? ” 
she added, rather piqued that Anne was not more 
enthusiastic, “ and does he always mind when you 
speak to him ? ” 

“I think Hamlet is very clever. No, Waddles 
does not do tricks ; but he knows a great deal, and 
a great many things that take a great deal of 
thinking out. For one thing, he knows how to 
take care of himself, though I can’t say that he 
always minds so very well ; but I am sure that 
he is a more durable country dog than Hamlet.” 

“ Minding is everything,” said Miss Letty, 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


45 


decidedly ; “ Hamlet obeys every word I say, and 
so he never really has to think for himself. Sh ! 
Tau-toi!'^ she cried, clapping her hands, for Ham- 
let having once started to bark in honour of the 
French Republic had no mind to stop; and as 
every one knows, who has either owned or lived 
next door to one, a poodle has a voice of such 
piercing and incessant shrillness that even a fence 
cat on a moonlight night cannot compete with it. 

Hamlet would not listen, and kept on tear- 
ing round the house and barking, until not only 
all the dogs in the kennels were set agog, but the 
signal travelled over Dogtown and answering 
barks could be heard for a mile away, while Miss 
Jule put her fingers in her ears and Anne burst 
out laughing in spite of herself. 

“ He’s a little upset,” said his mistress when he 
was finally quiet; “he is not used to so much 
space, and it’s gone to his head.” — “Come,” she 
called, speaking French rapidly, “sit up and 
smoke your pipe to calm yourself, and read the 
paper.” 

Hamlet meekly mounted the stand again, while 
his mistress produced a short clay pipe from her 
work-bag that hung by the hammock and stuck it 
in his mouth, perched Miss Jule’s eyeglasses upon 
his nose, and held the morning paper before him. 


46 


DOGTOWN 



“No, do not look at me — read ! ” she said, as 
his eyes rolled about in a helpless sort of fashion, 
“read until I stop counting.” 

“ Now,” she said, when the lesson was over, “ we 
will all go and play hide-and-seek. Do you know 

the French 
for that, 
Anne ? No ? 
W ell, it is 
cdche-cdcTie. 
Come,Tom- 
iny, I will 
race you to 
the wall ; ” 
tossing her 
skirt once 
more over 
her arm. 
Miss Let- 
ty whirled 
away, — 
muslin, lace, 
openwork 
stockings, 
high-heeled 
slippers, 
and all, — 



MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


47 


Anne and Tommy padding along after in their 
broad-soled shoes. 

Miss Jule stopped laughing and sighed, saying 
to herself : “ She is sunny tempered and bright, 
but she has more need to learn American of Anne 
than Anne has to learn French. I was afraid 
this morning that the farm was too dull a place 
for such a dainty lady, but I believe this visit 
will be the making of her. If only something 
would happen to the poodle. He gets on my 
nerves, though I can’t tell why, and I’d quite 
forgotten that I had any.” This was a strange 
opinion to come from Miss Jule, who was the 
friend of every little cur in Dogtown, and had 
been known to pay the license for more than one 
poor body in danger of losing a seemingly worth- 
less pet. 

****** 

Once in the corn-field the difference in age be- 
tween Anne and Miss Letty melted as if by magic, 
and they chatted away as merrily as if they had 
been life-long friends. Anne, looking up to the 
older girl as a beautiful and superior being, was 
further enthralled by finding that she knew a 
great deal about the pictures that she herself loved, 
and had actually once seen Rosa Bonheur, who 


48 


DOGTOWN 


painted the wonderful “Horse Fair,” a coloured 
print of which was Anne’s chief treasure, and had 
really stood beside her once when she was paint- 
ing a great white bull. 

To Miss Letty, on the other hand, who had 
never before thought that the country was any- 
thing more than a place full of trees and grass 
that was very dull to stay in for more than a 
week, and a dreadful place to spoil one’s com- 
plexion, Anne’s friendship with wild things seemed 
like a living fairy tale, and Anne herself a veri- 
table brownie. 

****** 

Waddles, Mr. Wolf, Quick, Colin, and Tip 
played hide-and-seek beautifully; but Miss Letty 
would not let Hamlet join in the game, because 
she said that his hair was too long and needed 
clipping, and might get full of straws ; then his 
feet were delicate, and the stubble might cut them, 
or the briers tear his ears or pull off his bracelet. 
Then, too, his hair had been freshly oiled to keep 
it black, after the manner of poodles, and it would 
be fatal to its lustre if dirt got upon it. 

So poor Hamlet had to suffer the shame of be- 
ing tied to a small tree, in full sight of the other 
dogs, by one of his mistress’s violet ribbons. He 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


49 


was at heart a manly, brave dog, and in no way 
responsible for the caprice that makes so many of 
his tribe play the fool. Also the otlier dogs 
seemed to have a contempt for his forlorn and 
ladylike state, and Anne distinctly saw Tip kick 
dirt at him in passing, and dignified Waddles 
nipped his hind leg. 

As it drew near noon the trio wandered toward 
the wooded edge of the field, where Anne said 
they would be sure to find yellow violets, wind 
flowers, and spring beauties, and Miss Letty 
filled her hat with them to take home to paint, 
and then sat down to rest with Tommy at her 
feet, while Anne went farther into the wood to 
look for wild sarsaparilla. 

“ I’m going to have you for my sweetheart,” 
said Tommy, suddenly, as he stepped back with his 
hands behind him, contentedly surveying a rickety- 
looking wreath of dogwood blossoms that he had 
put upon Miss Letty ’s golden hair, but which 
would slip down over her eyes. “ I think that 
you are much nicer than Pinkie Scott and Bess 
and Grace.” 

“And who are they, pray?” said Miss Letty, 
peering through the wreath. 

“ Oh, they are the others I play with, little girls 
— all alike, but you are several kinds.” 

£ 


50 


DOGTOWN 


“You mustn’t say, ‘I’m going to have you,’ in 
such a way,” said Miss Letty, struggling to be 
serious; “you must go down on your knees in 
the dirt and ask me very politely.” 

“No,” said Tommy, sturdily, “ I won’t. I don’t 
mind the dirt ; but if you ask, people mostly say 
you mustn’t ; but if you say you’re going to, you 
oftener get it.” 

Miss Letty looked up quite surprised at his 
reasoning and said: “Very well, play I’m your 
sweetheart. What next?” 

“ Why, then I must bring you up a present 
every Sunday just like Baldy does to Miss Jule’s 
Anna Maria. But, Miss Letty, how long will you 
be my sweetheart ? For ever and ever ? ” 

“ That’s too long to promise. Tommy. How will 
until you want to give me to some one else do ? ” 

“ First rate ; just listen ! those dogs must have 
struck a good trail down below there ; hear them 
yell. I guess I’ll go and see,” and he quickly 
disappeared around the hill. 

“I can now untie Hamlet,” called Miss Letty 
to Anne, going to the tree where she had left 
him ; but Hamlet was not there, neither was the 
sash ribbon. 

Miss Letty whistled and called in vain, for the 
barking and yelping sounded farther and farther 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


51 


away on the other side of the wood, and when 
she tried to follow its direction, sharp twigs and 
briers tore her lacy frills, and her high heels 
caught in the tangled roots, until Anne coming 
up grasped her arm just in time to prevent her 
from falling into an old spring hole. 

“ There is no use in trying to follow the dogs,” 
said Anne, taking in the situation at a glance ; 
“they are across the river halfway over to Pine 
Ridge by this time. I think we had better go 
back to Miss Jule’s, for you look ever so warm, 
and you are all scratched and tattered.” 

“ But Hamlet, I must find him ; he will be lost 
and never find his way back, for he does not 
know the place at all. Besides, it does not agree 
with him to run, and he may get himself muddy.” 

“ Of course he will be muddy and very likely 
tired, but he will be sure to come back with the 
others. I think they have taken him to show 
him the way about and introduce him to their 
friends. They are way up at Squire Burley’s 
now. I hear his foxhounds baying,” she added, 
after listening intently for a moment ; for her 
keen ears knew the tones and distinguished be- 
tween the various Dogtown voices as readily as 
if they belonged to human friends. 


52 


DOGTOWN 


Miss Letty looked ruefully at the shreds hang- 
ing from her pretty frock and then gave a little 
scream as she stretched out one foot and saw her 
stocking. “ Look, Anne ! there are bugs all going 
through the openwork and biting me.” 

“ They are not bugs ” laughed Anne, kneeling 
to pick them off ; “ but about half a dozen kinds 
of last year’s ‘ stick tights ’ and hook-on seeds ; 
they want your stocking to carry them off and 
plant them somewhere else. Please, Miss Letty, 
do girls in French schools wear dancing slippers 
and party gowns in the woods ? ” 

“ Schoolgirls never do. We always wore black 
frocks, white collars and cuffs, and pinafores, quite 
like housemaids, and very seldom went out of the 
big brick-walled garden except at vacation time. 
Then I travelled about with tante Marie and my 
uncle, who always wished me to have pretty 
clothes, and her maid repaired them. And when 
I was coming here tante Marie said all girls in 
America dressed like princesses, yes, even the chil- 
dren, and she bought me almost the trousseau of 
a bride, for I love frou-frous ; the heavy English 
clothes my father used to buy quite choked me. 
I fear me I can never wear shoes even like 
yours, Diane, and my Aunt Julie’s — positively, 
the soles are like a ship’s deck.” 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


53 


“It is of no use telling her, she will have to 
find out for herself,” thought Anne ; then looking 
across the field toward the house, she exclaimed, 
“ Why, there is Mr. Hugh, and he has a new 
horse.” 

“ Who, pray, is Mr. Hugh ? ” said Miss Letty, 
struggling over or rather through her last fence, 
and leaving several yards of petticoat frill behind. 
“Whoever he may be he rides well.” 

“ Mr. Hugh ? ” hesitated Anne, scarcely realiz- 
ing that he should be unknown to any one. “ Why, 
Mr. Hugh is a very nice man, but quite old, al- 
most thirty. He owns all the land between Miss 
Jule’s and Squire Burley’s ; he’s big and dark 
brown, that is, his hair and eyes and mustache are, 
and mostly his clothes and gaiters ; and he grows 
dogs and horses too, and writes books about the 
things that smell queer and poison you — chemis- 
try, you know. He has a stone house that’s as 
strong as a castle, and all the furniture is plain 
and the chairs are leather, for he hates all kinds 
of rags hanging to chairs and things like that. 
He likes pictures and flowers, though, and he 
gave me my “ Horse Fair ” print last birthday. 
He has strawberries in his cold-frame that are 
nearly ripe, I saw them last week. I do believe 
he is bringing some to Miss Jule now, for he has a 


54 


DOGTOWN 


basket. Mr. Hugh doesn’t like young ladies, but 
only children and people like mother and Miss 
Jule. But he will be very polite, so you needn’t 
be afraid of him,” she added, as she saw Miss 
Letty hesitate and look as if she was going to run 
away. 

As Anne said, Mr. Hugh had brought a basket 
of delicious strawberries, which Miss Jule handed 

over to Letty and Anne 
to arrange for the table, 
saying, “ They are so 
big you must leave the 
hulls on and lay them 
on fresh leaves.” 

“ I will do it,” said 
Miss Letty, giving 
Anne a little push tow- 
ard the door. “ I know 
that you are longing to 

see the new horse.” 

This was true, and Anne finally, after some diffi- 
culty, persuaded Mr. Hugh to accept Miss Jule’s 
invitation to luncheon, pleading to try the new 
horse over the little hedge afterward, as Mr. Hugh 
said he was broken to side-saddle, and a fine 
jumper. 

The luncheon table looked very pretty with 




MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


55 


Letty’s flower decorations and little vines laid on 
the cloth, and all went well, Mr. Hugh being less 
shy than usual. When the strawberries came, 
they certainly looked very tempting, lying on a 
bed of leaves, on green glass plates, with a mound 
of sugar on the side of each to dip them in. 

Miss Jule, who was near-sighted, began eating 
hers, and Mr. Hugh followed in an absent-minded 
sort of way, for he was talking pasture and other 
interesting things to his hostess. 

Suddenly Anne gave a loud exclamation and 
then stopped, flushing scarlet in embarrassment. 

“ What is it ? ” asked Mr. Hugh, “ a bee in the 
berries ? ” 

“No; but — but — the green leaves under the 
berries are poison ivy, and you know you poison 
dreadfully and so does Miss Jule. Oh, and the 
vines around the table edge are poison too. I 
didn’t notice at first, the leaves are so small and 
young.” 

“Bless me ! ” cried Miss Jule, rubbing her lips 
and finger-tips with her handkerchief. “ Run up 
to my medicine closet, Anne, and bring the bottle 
labelled ‘ Lead water and alcohol,’ and a wad of 
cotton. Letty, child, you will be sure to be 
poisoned with all those brier scratches on your 
Avrists.” 


56 


DOGTOWN 


“I saw the pretty, shining vine growing up 
those trees and over the stone fence by the stables 
and I thought it was American ivy,” stammered 
Miss Letty, looking ready to cry. “ How can it 
poison us. Aunt Julie? we haven’t eaten any.” 

“It’s the juice bites your skin,” interrupted 
Tommy, promptly, “and then it all blubbers up 
and gets wet and sticky, and you scratch and 
scratch, but it doesn’t do any good.” 

After Anne, whom poison ivy never harmed, 
had brought the antidote, and fingers and lips 
were bathed, they went out under the trees, for no 
one cared for the berries except Tommy, who 
crept into the kitchen and washed his vigorously 
with soap and water, and devoured them with 
relish. 

“ Miss Letty is my pretty sweetheart ; don’t you 
wish she was yours ? ” said Tommy to Mr. Hugh 
very abruptly, as he was being swung into the 
wonderful Mexican saddle to try the new horse 
around the lawn. 

“ No, I don’t. Tommy ; pretty people are all very 
well, but useful ones with common sense are 
better,” was the answer. 

Miss Letty, coming down the steps as the 
pair passed by, heard and said to Anne, who was 
behind her : “ I hate your Mr. Hugh. I think 


MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


57 


he is a bear,” which remark coming out of a seem- 
ing clear sky, Anne could not understand. 

A diversion, however, was caused by the return 
of the dogs with much barking and orders of 
“ down ” and “ to heel,” for they were wet, 
muddy, and did not smell like roses. 

Mr. Wolf bore a muskrat, and Colin brought 
up the rear with something that had once been a 
shoe, which he laid at Miss Jule’s feet, with much 
tail- wagging, as if to say, “ It’s merely a trifle, 
but better than nothing.” 

“ Hamlet — is — not — with — them,” said Miss 
Letty, slowly, with almost a sob in her voice. 

“We will all walk up the river bank and look 
for him,” said Miss Jule, cheerfully; “the dogs 
came back that way.” 

They had only gone a couple of hundred feet 
up the stream when Anne, who was ahead, called, 
“ There he is, sitting on that rock ; he must be 
tired and afraid to swim over alone.” 

Then, as they drew nearer, the reason for his 
sitting still was plain. His heavy curls were a 
mat of mud, burrs, and briers that must have 
made either walking or swimming nearly impos- 
sible, while the tangle over his eyes was so dense 
that he could see nothing. His collar was gone, 
also his bracelet, and his fluffy wristlets hung limp. 


58 


DOGTOWN 



At a call from his mistress, however, he half 
stumbled, half plunged into the shallow stream 
and threw himself into her lap, and she hugged 
him, thus completing the wreck of her gown, say- 
ing, “ You poor, poor boy ! we are a pair, you and 
I, because of our clothes, and not knowing the 
country.” 

^ ^ ^ 

It was impossible to comb or pick the straws 
and burrs from Hamlet’s coat, so next day one of 



MISS LETTY AND HAMLET 


59 


the grooms clipped him close all over and gave 
him a bath. When he went, meek and shivering 
with mortification, to his mistress’s room, where 
she was sitting alone, as the poisoning was do- 
ing its work on the scratched wrists and shell- 
pink ears, she hardly recognized her pet in the 
lanky black dog with only a tail-tuft left of his 
curls. As she did not speak, he went over to a 
low stool, and putting his nose between his paws, 
“ said his prayers,” as she had often made him do 
for punishment when he had disobeyed. 

Then, in spite of her misery, she burst into a 
hearty laugh, and bade him go out and play with 
the other dogs, which he very readily did, feeling, 
if antics tell anything, like a little boy who has 
just put off petticoats. After his clipping Hamlet 
was cordially received in Dogtown, and consid- 
ered one of the boys, and whether or not his hair 
was allo'wed to grow or if he ever again wore a 
scented mustache, remains to be seen. 


CHAPTER III 


TROUBLE BEGINS 

During all these days Lumberlegs, the St. Ber- 
nard, grew mightily. When he was a year old, 
he looked like an awkward young calf ; but when 
his second year was ended, he had the tawny head 
of a lioness, and his body, well rounded yet 
muscular, was in keeping with his huge paws. 

When he sat and Tommy stood, their heads 
were on a level, and when they walked abroad 
together. Tommy tugging sturdily at his collar 
to keep pace, they usually had the roadway to 
themselves, for Lumberlegs was not only the larg- 
est inhabitant of Dogtown, but of the whole 
county, and people made so many remarks about 
his size that Tommy dubbed him Bigness. 

These same people predicted that some day 
there would be a dog fight at Happy Hall when 
Lumberlegs came to realize his strength, and the 
feeling of jealousy that comes to a dog with full 
growth. Surely there was material for both jeal- 
60 



Lumberlegs and Tommy 







TROUBLE BEGINS 


63 


ousy and a fight. Waddles loved Anne with the 
sort of love that thinks it owns the object of its 
devotion ; Lumberlegs loved both Tommy and 
Anne in the same way ; while Lily, the bulldog, 
was devoted to Tommy alone, and deeply resented 
the coming of Happy, who loved every one, as an 
infringement of her rights ; so that at the time 
Happy became the mother of Jack and Jill, and 
consequently an object of much attention, there 
was a considerable strain upon dog tempers. 

At this point fate wisely stepped in as she often 
does, though tears came with her. Lily broke one 
of the most rigid of dog laws, the penalty for 
which is death — she defied an express train ! In 
going with Tommy and Anne to the town she did 
not follow the road and cross the railway bridge 
with high safe sides, but lingered by the way, 
sniffing here and then there until she lost sight of 
her friends, and took a short cut across the fields 
that bordered the tracks, running between the 
rails until she should reach a gap in the guard 
fence that opened on the road the other side. 

It was time for the morning express, the par- 
ticular train that always whistles as it turns the 
curve, and thrusts out an iron arm to grab the 
mail bag, swinging from its gallows, while it drops 
another bag into a rack beneath. 


64 


DOGTOWN 



It was always a puzzle to Tommy as to how the 
bag was seized without missing, and he often 
coaxed Anne to wait on the bridge until the train 
came, as there were little star-shaped openings in 
the iron work through which he could see. 

This morning they had crossed, and then hear- 
ing the train turned back. Anne missing Lily 
looked up the hill for her, while Waddles, who, as 
a matter of course, was one of the party, trotted 
soberly along toward the village, where he would 
wait for his mistress upon the steps of either the 
market or grocery store, according as he under- 
stood her destination. 

As the train reached the curve Tommy, whose 
eye was at the chink, gave a shriek and dashed 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


65 


himself at the barrier, wailing : ‘‘ Lily, Lily, my 
Lily ! She’ll be killed ! O Anne, come quick ! ” 

In reality, by this time Lily had crossed the 
rails and was quite safe, but her master’s cry made 
her turn to locate him. Whether she thought he 
was in pain or danger no one knows, but at that 
moment the train rounded the curve, whistling 
furiously. To the bewildered dog it must have 
been associated with her master’s scream or else 
sounded like a challenge, for like a flash she 
turned and charged the monstrous engine face to 
face. Tommy cast himself face downward on the 
roadway, his tears making mud of the dust. Anne 
caught hold of the railing and closed her eyes 
while the train thundered by underneath. Lily 
lay quite still higli up on the bank ; the engine 
had been quickly merciful. 

That afternoon Baldy buried Lily in the corner 
of the orchard pasture where there was quite a 
company of pet animals, ranging from canaries, 
with school slates for headstones, to Brownie, the 
dear old pony that had belonged to Anne’s mother 
when a girl, and lived out a happy old age in 
that very pasture. One thing about pet animals is 
that their lives at best are so short, that we should 
treat them very kindly to make up for it. 

Some of the neighbours laughed at what they 


66 


DOGTOWN 


called Unhappy Hall Cemetery, but Anne resented 
this with a good deal of spirit, saying, “I think 
that it is very mean to love an animal one day, 
when it is alive and can amuse you, and then throw 
it on the ash heap the next, just because it’s dead 
and can’t help itself.” 

Tommy still crying, and remorseful at perhaps 
having caused Lily’s death by calling her at the 
wrong moment, insisted upon Miss Jule, and his 
father, and mother attending her funeral. Anne 
made a wreath of her best flowers, sacrificing four 
tea rosebuds and all of her mignonette and helio- 
trope, but Tommy would have none of it. In- 
stead, he begged two beef bones from the cook, 
and tying them together crosswise with Anne’s 
best pink hair ribbon, which she had not the 
heart to deny him, put them on the middle of the 
mound, saying between sobs, “ She — loved — bones 
— but — she didn’t like flowers — except to sleep 
on,” which was perfectly true, her favourite 
places for a siesta having been alternately the 
verbena, nasturtium, or lettuce bed. 

Tommy’s father and mother were resigned, 
though they did not say much about it before the 
children. Complaints had' begun to reach their 
ears that Lily not only felt it her duty to prevent 
strange people from coming near Tommy, but 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


67 


declined to let them pass by on the road unchal- 
lenged ; and though they cherished all animals, 
they never allowed them to become a nuisance or 
bore those who cared less for them. 

Baldy was also resigned and spoke his mind 
freely, much to Tommy’s chagrin. 

As for Dogtown, it was jubilant to the barking 
point, especially among the lower classes, consist- 
ing of those dogs who, being in reduced circum- 
stances, had been used to come shrinking and 
timid between dusk and dawn for castaway bones 
or swill-pail dainties. 

Waddles was liberal minded upon such matters 
— as liberal as the law allows. Dog law says that 
no dog shall dig up a bone that another has 
buried ; but all bones that lie abandoned and un- 
covered are public property and fair eating. 

Waddles, being affluent, never ate swill, and 
only buried special bones to ripen, casting others 
about at random, often with scraps of flesh un- 
gnawed ; for this he was regarded in Dogtown as 
the people’s friend. 

Lily, in coming, stopped this patronage. She 
had known want herself, in the days when she 
tramped with gypsies, so she ranged about, indus- 
triously burying everything she found for pos- 
sible future use, and kept such a strict watch on 


68 


DOGTOWN 



all the outbuildings that the most ravenous cur 
dared not steal a lap of sour milk from the 
pig’s trough for fear of seeing those wide jaws 
gnashing in front of him ; for Lily had the one 
bad trait of her race : she laid hold without 
warning. 

So after all it was only Tommy who grieved for 
Lily. To him she stood for property rights, 
strength, and friendship, and for a time he was 
inconsolable. 

“ Let’s come home and see the twins have their 
supper ; it won’t do any good for you to stay here 
and cry. Your eyes are swelled up like a frog’s. 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


69 


now,” said Anne, trying to lead Tommy away 
after Baldy and his shovel had disappeared. 

“Supposin’ it was Waddles was dead, would 
you stop cry in’ — the very same day — even if you 
were frogs ? ” 

“Waddles ! why that is entirely different ; he 
is a person. There is no other dog like him,” and 
then Anne sat down suddenly on the tumble-down 
stone fence in sheer amazement at the possibility 
of mischance overtaking her little friend. 

A friend he was, and she was entirely right — 
there was no other quite like him among sturdy, 
self-reliant, gentlemen dogs. He had been so long 
the companion of the House People that, without 
being of the objectionable, pampered, perfumed, 
spoon-fed type of lap dog who demands the care 
that a child alone should have, he really seemed 
to be, as Anne said, a person. 

Waddles did not know a single taught trick ; 
he could not hold sugar on his nose, like Miss 
Letty’s poodle, Hamlet ; he could not sit up and 
beg, though he had a language of his own, part 
gesture, part speech, by which he could ask for 
anything that he could not get without aid. 

In his frisky youth even he scorned the mere 
idea of jumping through a hoop, or the poodle 
trick of “saying his prayers.” 


70 


DOGTOWN 


Yet there were few walls that he could not 
manage to get over or through, and he would put 
his paws upon his mistress’s knees and gaze into her 
face in unmistakable supplication. 

“It’s a great responsibility having a dog like 
Waddles,” Anne had said one day, shortly after 
her brother was born, when she had given him 
half of her name, and stopped being Tommy- 
Anne, and there had been much talk about her 
new responsibility. “Do you know, mother, I 
believe Waddles thinks that I’m God, and it will 
be dreadful if I’m unkind and disappoint him.” 

No, Waddles was untrained and untutored in 
the common sense of the words, but he “ knew,” 
which was better ; his method of treeing cats or 
coons in company with Miss Jule’s big Ben Uncas, 
and the fox terrier. Quick, though somewhat 
reprehensible, was a marvel of military tactics, 
and it was knowledge of this sort that made and 
kept him Mayor of Dogtown ; for he was the one 
dog that no other had ever attacked or fought, 
so it was no wonder that Anne grew grave at 
the mere suggestion of losing him, though never 
dreaming that there was really trouble hovering 
about, and that, too, from a dog of the Happy 
Hall household and herself. 

For a time after Lily’s departure everything 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


71 


was peaceful. Jack aud Jill were fast growing 
able to play and indulge in the wrestling matches 
that make puppies quick-witted and strengthen 
their muscles. 

Happy often superintended these bouts herself, 
stirring up .first one pup and then the other, 
often aiding and protecting the under dog if too 
roughly vanquished. Anne soon discovered that 
these affairs were not merely aimless play upon 
Happy’s part, but a way she took for teaching 
the twins how to protect themselves. 

The next step was to teach them to protect 
their food, and when one day Happy dragged a 
ripe and well-cleaned beef bone from its hiding- 
place, and deliberately threw it down between 



Jack and Jill, and they began a struggle for its 
possession, Anne in amazement rushed into the 
house to call the family, crying : “ Do come out 
and see the queerest thing — Happy is teaching 


72 


DOGTOWN 


the pups to play ‘snatch bone’ exactly the same 
way as Waddles played it with Lumberlegs when 
he was a puppy. You’ll really have to see it to 
believe what I say.” It was more than true, for 
not only did they wrestle and snatch the bone 
from one another, seeking in turn to hide it in 
the grass under a few leaves, but when the frolic 
was fast turning to a pitched battle, and ludicrous 
baby growls mingled with flashing teeth from 
between drawn-up lips, then Happy gave a sharp 
“ yap ” that must have meant something very 
dreadful, for the pups instantly let go and drew 
apart with a most abject droop of the tail, while 
she seized the bone, and trotting off reburied it. 

Though Waddles seldom forgot his dignity 
sufficiently to play with the twins, he allowed 
them to take morsels from his dish, and was 
always close at hand if their shrill cries told that 
they were in trouble, and the slightest look from 
Happy brought him to her aid. 

Lumberlegs, on the contrary, delighted to gam- 
bol with them, and his clumsy bounds and imita- 
tions of their gestures usually ended in his over- 
throw, when he would lie on his back with a most 
idiotic grin upon his face, fanning the air with his 
paws, while the twins gnawed at his great tail 
with mock fierceness. 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


73 


Now the race law for puppies and grown dogs 
is quite different, even as are those laws that gov- 
ern childhood and manhood among House People. 
Actions that are tolerated and even encouraged in 
puppyhood are read as insults when done by a 
dog of two years, and bear a penalty. 

In spite of Waddles’s instructions and warnings, 
Lumberlegs was either heedless of the law, often 
deliberately breaking it, or else from his size and 
strength felt himself superior to it ; which it was 
Anne could never tell. Perhaps it was because 
he was unevenly developed, for he had all a 
man dog’s jealousy and craving for the exclu- 
sive attention of his owners, while he kept his 
baby playfulness and total disregard of food 
rights. So trouble befell one fine day, like rain 
from sudden clouds that no one has noticed gath- 
ering. 

After it had happened Anne was continually 
remembering little things that might have given 
her warning. 

Waddles had a favourite afternoon station on the 
end of the porch that commanded the front and 
barn roads, the front door, and the garden also if he 
turned his head. Suddenly Lumberlegs regularly 
appropriated this watch-tower, and his length 
being so great that there was no view from a back 


74 


DOGTOWN 


seat Waddles, after unavailing verbal remon- 
strance, was forced to lie upon the grass. 



Waddles was the only dog that had been allowed 
in the dining room at meal times, when he sat 
quietly under the table at Anne’s feet. Soon 
Lumberlegs discovered a way of opening the door 
and he would hide under the table, lying at 
Tommy’s feet. As he was quiet, and Tommy 
declared that he made “a fine feet bench,” he 
was allowed to remain. Consequently Waddles 
was squeezed against the table’s claw legs and 
presently left his old place and lay disconsolately 
upon the door-mat. 

When Lumberlegs came, a gift from Miss Jule, 
he was regarded as Tommy’s property ; but when 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


75 


the novelty wore off, and Jack and Jill became 
counter attractions, he turned wholly to Anne to 
supply his needs both of food and affection, and 
became devotedly attached to her as big dogs 
usually are to only one person ; while Anne, 
though faithful to W addles, returned his devotion, 
for he was in many ways a noble dog. 

Anne had insisted almost from her babyhood 
that one of her ancestors must have been an 
Indian, so fond she was of wild ways and things, 
and this liking did not decrease as she grew of an 
age to crave friends of her own race. 

She still tramped about the near-by woods, but 
Miss Letty was often her companion. Also Miss 
Letty was timorous and made a point of insisting 
that Lumberlegs go with them. This he often 
did, and would either follow close or sit quite still 
on guard for any length of time ; while Waddles 
and Happy would perhaps strike a trail and dash 
off in full cry, thereby disturbing the very things 
that Anne had come to watch. One day, after 
they had in this way scattered a quail brood that 
Anne had hunted from the time that Bobwhite 
announced his arrival, until she found the dear lit- 
tle chicks huddled in a leafy hollow among wild 
blackberry canes on the orchard edge, she felt 
provoked, and did not allow Waddles to go to walk 


76 


DOGTOWN 


with her for almost a week. “ Mistress,” said 
he, his eyes growing deep and luminous with 
reproach, “ I’ve always been with you until now ; 
have you forgotten all those fine days before 
Tommy came, and there was only you and I ? 
Don’t you remember I was with you when we met 
the miller’s bull, and he was so angry because, 
though he tolled the bell at Cock Robin’s funeral, 
they didn’t ask him to the feast, and how I 
followed you and Obi when you went for the 
wood -duck’s nest, though I was very sick, and that 
day when Ko-ko-ko-ho showed us the way to 
where the last rattlesnake was, and the night that 
we went up on the hill and I barked you awake 
just when you thought you were at the Forest 
Circus ? What has happened, mistress ? Are you 
tired of me, or can that Lumberlegs show you 
better paths than I do ? Though you gave my 
tail and back legs half to Tommy when he was 
born, I’ve always used them to follow you and tell 
you I was glad just the same as ever, but now you 
love Lumberlegs best.” 

“ You dear, jealous old Waddlekins,” cried Anne, 
lifting his paws to her knee as of old so that he 
stood up and she could look in his face, “ it’s noth- 
ing of the kind, only Miss Letty often comes with 
me, and she is used to the city, and she doesn’t 


TROUBLE BEGINS 


77 


care for those long ‘go over everything’ walks 
that we take, and she has read in the papers about 
tramps, and thinks Lumberlegs makes a splendid 
policeman. Besides, you know that you chased all 
those lovely little quails off our land just when 
they were getting big enough to have their pic- 
tures taken, and father had spent a lot of money 
for rubber tubing so he could work his camera 
from behind the old green apple tree. Now they 
are as shy as loons, and pop down in those wild 
roses when we are a whole field away and there 
isn’t even a big bush to hide behind. 

“ But never mind ; I’m sorry, anyway, so touch 
noses and be friends, and to-morrow we will do the 
brook walk all by ourselves ; for even if I do love 
Lumberlegs, it’s quite different.” 

Instead of the usual dainty lick Waddles gave 
a half -suppressed growl. Anne dropped his paws, 
exclaiming in surprise : “ To think of it, you 
growled at me when I was apologizing, the very 
first time in your life, too. I think you had better 
go over and rest in your kennel and think it over.” 

Then she led him to his little house, snapped the 
chain in his collar, and walked away without once 
looking back, Lumberlegs leaving his stolen seat 
on the porch to follow her. 

The truth about the growl was this : Waddles, 


78 


DOGTOWN 


dislodged by Lumberlegs from many of his nap 
nooks, had lately taken to lying in the grass or 
under bushes, which as he was elderly and the 
season very wet had given him rheumatism in his 
hind quarters. As Anne held up his paws the 
strain soon gave his back a miserable wrench. 
This caused the growl, and for thus being mis- 
understood to threaten his idol. Waddles was not 
only left behind, but dethroned and chained up in 
his rival’s presence, where he stood as if trans- 
fixed with a strange, drawn expression on his face, 
which when House People wear we know they 
are struggling to keep back tears. 

If only Anne had then remembered what she 
had once said about disappointing him ! 



He stood transfixed. 



CHAPTER IV 



EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


One morning the skirmishing that had been 
going on for several weeks between Waddles and 


G 


81 


82 


DOGTOWN 


Lumberlegs broke into open warfare, and it was 
the misguided interference of a would-be peace- 
maker that quickened the crisis. 

This was Mrs. Happy Waddles who, from pok- 
ing her pretty little nose where it did not belong, 
and relying too much upon the indulgence accorded 
her sex, not only very nearly made herself a widow, 
but caused a household commotion as well. 

As we have noticed before, Lumberlegs was 
very poorly instructed in dog law, in spite of 
having grown up side by side with Waddles, who 
was letter perfect in it. Not only did Lumberlegs 
ignore the “rights of age” and “buried bones 
law,” but he began breaking the “ fresh food law ” 
as well. 

House People should make it as easy as possible 
for their fourfoots to keep this law by giving each 
one its rations separately, for it is only in early 
puppy days that dogs may be trusted to feed from 
the same dish, and even then the timid and weak 
fare poorly. 

Waddles had the appetite of a dog who had 
been reared alone, and could therefore pick and 
choose. He ate deliberately and never ravenously, 
sniffing cautiously at each morsel ; for once, when 
he was ill, Anne had made the mistake of giving 
him pills concealed in his food. Of course he 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


83 


discovered them, spat them out with much sput- 
tering, and never forgot the occurrence. 

On the other hand, Lumberlegs and Happy were 
both gluttons ; the first because he was so big that 
it seemed impossible to give him enough, while 
the little beagle was perhaps prompted to overeat 
by a haunting memory of the single daily meal of 
her kennel life. 

In this particular case the bone of contention 
belonged to a ham, a dainty especially kept for 
Waddles. He had taken a few gnaws from it and 
hidden it under the flap of the cellar door, his 
favourite cache, while he went for his daily walk to 
the village with Anne ; for whatever his faults he 
liad always preferred her companionship to food, 
never swerving even for liver and bacon. 

Along sauntered Lumberlegs, searching for 
something to add relish to his ample breakfast of 
dog bread. He tried to investigate the swill pail, 
but it not only had a tight zinc cover, after the 
fashion of all well-bred scrap pails, but for double 
protection there was a stone on top which he play- 
fully knocked off with one sweep of his paw. 

Straws show which way the wind blows, and 
this stone showed where the ham bone was by 
rolling directly against it. 

Lumberlegs seized upon the bone with delight 


84 


DOGTOWN 


and tossed it into the air gaily, preparing to have 
a good play before making a meal. 

Happy, whose deafness seemed to sharpen her 
sense of smell, came from under a bush where she 
had been taking a nap in company with Jack and 
Jill, and sat where she could keep her eyes upon the 
bone, giving a little whine now and then, moisten- 
ing her lips with the edge of her pink tongue, 
and casting appealing glances at Lumberlegs that 
only seemed to stimulate him to further antics. 

It is almost always the soft-haired, mild-eyed, 
helpless looking sort of people like Happy that sit 
still and brew trouble, even in bigger places than 
Dogtown. 

Waddles, coming home from market half an 
hour later, took in the situation at a glance. He 
had borne a great deal in silence, but this was too 
much. It was high time for his position as house 
fourfoot at Happy Hall to be upheld. He would 
try his authority as “ oldest dog ” first. So, going 
forward slowly with a contracted tiptoe gait and 
tail held erect, he made a series of noises that 
seemed graded between growls and real speech. 
Lumberlegs understood this language perfectly, 
and rolling on his back, he gave the bone a final, 
careless toss, as much as to say, “ I was only play- 
ing, take your old bone.” 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


85 


Waddles advanced to seize his property, and 
all would have been well, at least for that time, if 
Happy had not interfered. 

It had happened several times that when the 
two dogs had been playing with or contending 
for a bone. Happy had ended the matter by run- 
ning between them, giving each a caressing lick 
on the nose, and making off with the bone her- 
self, leaving them looking sheepish, but too polite 
to remonstrate. She now tried the same tactics, 
but in reaching up to Lumberlegs, who was rolling 
in the grass, she received an entirely uninten- 
tional blow from one of his paws, and ran away 
squealing in terror out of all proportion to her 
hurt. 

Waddles, with a deep, short growl that must 
have been a wicked word in dog talk, sprang upon 
Lumberlegs ; but before he could do more, the 
great jaws closed on his neck, and he was shaken 
as a cat shakes a rat. 

Fortunately, Waddles wore a stout collar which 
broke the force of the grip, otherwise his neck 
might have been broken before Baldy, who heard 
Anne’s cry, came to stop the fray. But as it 
was, the sleek white neck was streaked with red, 
there was a rent in one of the beautiful ears, and 
for the first time in his life Waddles, the Mayor 


86 


DOGTOWN 


of Dogtown, had been mauled and shaken like a 
common cur. And this, too, when he was grow- 
ing old, and by a dog of the same household. True, 
in the old days, he often had differences witli Tiger, 
the miller’s cat ; but cat scratches on one’s nose 
are considered wounds of honour in dog etiquette, 
and are no disgrace. 

Lumberlegs was shut in the yard beside his 
kennel, and Waddles retreated to the remotest 
corner of the cellar, from which he refused to 
come forth even when Anne, bringing warm 
water, a bit of sponge, and sticking plaster, called 
him in her most persuasive voice. 

“ He feels sulky,” said Baldy, “ leave him alone 
a spell and he’ll come out all right. I reckon 
his feelings is hurt more’n his neck.” 

“ That is just it,” said Anne, sorrowfully, “and 
to a dog like Waddles hurt feelings are much 
worse to bear than a bitten neck.” 

But when he failed to appear at dinner time, 
and Anne took a lantern to hunt for him among 
the coal-bin caverns, the poor neck was so swollen 
that the collar was sunken in the flesh like a 
ring on a fat finger. Even when the collar was 
taken off, the bite bathed and cooled with a sooth- 
ing wash, and the rent in the ear drawn together 
with narrow strips of rubber plaster, he refused 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


87 


either to respond to Anne’s petting, come up- 
stairs, or in fact move at all, though after she 
reluctantly left, she heard him lapping water from 
the refrigerator pan after his usual hot weather 
habit. 

“I wouldn’t trouble if I was you,” said Baldy, 
cheerfully ; “ they all hev their little scrapes. 
It’s accordin’ to natur’ for dogs to delight to bark 
and bite, like it says in the Sunday-school poetry, 
that everybody knows.” 

“That’s one of the things that ‘everybody 
knows ’ that isn’t true,” answered Anne, emphati- 
cally ; “ dogs’ real delight is to live with people 
and be understood and have their feelings re- 
spected. That’s why Tin afraid that Waddles 
will never forget to-day ; he has been feeling hurt 
about Lumberlegs for a long while, and now he 
thinks he is in disgrace besides.” 

“ Feed the dogs separately, keep them apart for 
a time and the stray bones raked up, and I think 
the feud will blow over,” said Anne’s father. 
Her mother thought differently, for Lumberlegs, 
the boisterous puppy, and Bigness, the full- 
grown man dog, standing thirty-five inches at the 
shoulder, were entirely different beings. She had 
watched him at play with Tommy and noticed 
the way he eyed with resentment everything that 


88 


DOGTOWN 


came near. She knew that when he followed 
Anne to the woods she had more than police pro- 
tection. He was of the faithful, jealous disposition, 
that must be the only one of his kind in a home 
that gave wide range for wandering, not one of 
several house fourfoots that recognized a smaller 
dog as master, and lived literally in a town of 
numerous dogs. 

The feeding separately matter was easily done, 
for Waddles persistently refused to leave the 
cellar except on stealthy trips toward evening, 
or when he was sure that his foe was out of range. 
How he knew this was a puzzle to Anne, for he 
could neither see nor hear from the depths of the 
coal-bin, into which fastness he crawled through 
the small, square door at the bottom made for the 
shovel. She soon realized, however, that his keen 
scent told him. 

Lumberlegs also knew quite well when Wad- 
dles was in his retreat, for though he did not care 
to venture down the steep stone steps because his 
back legs were rather sprawly, he would walk 
past the door growling softly, with bristling hair, 
and then give a broken bark and, turning, kick 
grass into the air in the direction of the cellar 
with a gesture of contempt. 

The two weeks that followed were ones of trial 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


89 


for Anne. She was in perpetual fear that the 
dogs would meet, for she grew more sure every 
day that “ making-up ” was out of the question. 

Even though Lumberlegs was in his yard, Wad- 
dles would not follow her to the village. He for- 
sook his friends along the route upon whom he 
had never before failed to call daily, sturdily going 
the rounds alone if Anne omitted her walk. 

It was not until he ceased to follow her that 
Anne fully realized what a friend she had lost, 
one who was self-reliant, faithful, and wise, giving 
no trouble, asking nothing beyond the trifling care 
his rare ailments needed, and the affection his 
intelligence won. For Waddles knew the speech 
of House People as well as Anne interpreted 
Heart of Nature’s language, and he and his mis- 
tress had a perfect, mutual understanding. 

If Anne, wearing her common hat, said, “ Do 
you want to go to the post-office ? ” he would give 
a cheer and start off down the hill before her, 
waiting on the office steps ; while if she said store 
or market instead of post-office, he would wait by 
the respective doors. 

If, on the contrary, she wore a different hat or 
said, “Not to-day, Waddlekins, I’m going to 
town,” he might sometimes go with her to the 
gate but never farther. 


90 


DOGTOWN 



His own voice, too, had different shades of 
meaning, even beyond the others of his vocal race, 
for if any dog has speech it is the beagle hound. 

While he was on guard no one could enter the 
gate, two hundred yards from the house, un- 
signalled, either from his post on the porch corner 
or his summer night quarters in the wide window 
of the upper hall. 

For a twofoot whom he did not at once recog- 
nize he had a bark of inquiry ; for a total stranger 

a querulous 
gruff note of 
warning ; for 
a friend the 
inquiring 
tone quickly 
broke into 
rapid barks, 
like voluble 
talk ; while 
for animals 
his voice had 
a wholly dif- 
ferent key, 
starting in 
a series of 


monotonous 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


91 


yaps, until, if at liberty, he would sniff the air, 
catch the trail, and follow it in full cry. 

At night when he barked every member of the 
household knew whether the intruder was man or 
beast. Oftentimes at dawn he would push open 
Anne’s door and lick her hand that was lying on 
the counterpane, to signify that he wanted the 
front door opened. Then when she, in dressing 
gown and slippers, or sometimes, I must confess, 
with bare toes and an airy nighty, would creep 
down the stairs and undo the bolts, cautioning 
silence, she was often lured out on to the porch by 
the expression of his face as he tiptoed about, 
unravelling the different trails that told him the 
story of the night. 

Sometimes he would give a growl and his back 
bristled — that meant an intruder from Dogtown 
had left an unwelcome message or disagreeable 
news. Then his eyes would grow deep and lumi- 
nous, and when Anne asked, “ Squirrel ? ” he would 
give a short yap as if to say, “No good,” and gaze 
up in- the trees. But when he began by wildly zig- 
zagging to and fro with head down, uttering dis- 
cordant cries, then dashing off without waiting 
to answer questions, his mistress knew that he 
was following either a cat or rabbit, and that he 
would return late for breakfast and very tired. 


92 


DOGTOWN 


To think that the little animal that knew all 
this should be moping unkempt and forlorn in the 
coal-bin, gave affectionate Anne the heartache. 
Next she tried the experiment of having Baldy 
carry him upstairs and give him a good bath, for 
his wounds were now healed, and then invited 
him to “ go to the post-office ” in the old-time gay 
tone. 

For a moment he rallied and gave an answering 
cry which was echoed by Bigness, who, as chance 
would have it, was lying in the shadow of the 
house front. Tommy having taken him from his 
yard and strolled away, forgetting to put him up 
again. 

At the sound Waddles bristled and then shrank 
away, and Anne realized for the first time how 
thin and altered and spiritless he was. But the 
next day a change came over him : he forsook the 
cellar and boldly took his old seat under the apple 
tree in full sight of Bigness’s house, as if tempting 
fate; but as he did not come out Waddles returned 
again to the cellar. 

Tommy sided with the St. Bernard, wailing 
that the fault was all Waddles’s, and passionately 
refused to part with his pet and have Jack and 
Jill for his very own, even though Bigness should 
go to a beautiful home to be the pet of his dear 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


93 


friend, little Miss Muffet, who lived at a big farm 
far away and had no dog friend at all. 

“ The train killed Lily, and now you want to 
steal Bigness from me just because your silly 
Waddles is selfish and wants to fight and have 
everybody for himself. I don’t care if he was 
here first ; he’s old and he’ll soon be dead, any- 
way — and I’m glad and — ” but he didn’t finish, 
for Anne, sweet tempered and fifteen though she 
was, shook her little brother hard and then flew 
up the hill to her tree perch in tears. It was 
the first time that Tommy had ever been shaken, 
and he was as surprised and heartbroken as 
Waddles had been at his overthrow. 

However, he did not cry but stood quite still, 
with a very red face and quivering lips, muttering 
to himself, “ Anne’s as cross as Bigness — and she 
hardly never cries — and — it’s horrid to be shaken, 
and I guess I am sorry for Waddles — a — little 
bit.” And more days passed. 

^ * * * * * 

In the coal-bin crouched Waddles in dismal 
plight, his brain full of dark thoughts ; for dogs 
do a deal of thinking when they seem to be only 
dozing in the sun or before the fire, and Waddles 
in hiding neither ate nor slept and did nothing 


94 


DOGTOWN 


but think, for it was two days now since he had 
taken more than a drink of water. Anne did not 
know this, for the food she took him disappeared 
into the capacious stomachs of Jack and Jill, who 
amused themselves half the day by rolling and 
scrambling up and down the cellar steps. 

Waddles, usually so spotless and neat, who often 
washed his face twice a day with a queer motion 
of his hind feet peculiar to himself, was now 
wholly unkempt, his hair rough and dry, and his 
nose smutty. 

The truth was that he did not care for anything 
now that he thought his mistress misunderstood 
him, neither would he go among his friends, — he, 
the only resident of Dogtown who had never been 
taunted or fought by another dog, to be whipped 
and driven to cover in a cellar by a dog of his own 
house who had disobeyed all law and could not be 
reasoned with ! This was a state of things not to 
be endured. No, he would try once more and give 
Bigness the punishment he deserved, or die in the 
attempt. 

Then he set himself to wait a chance and time 
for meeting his enemy, for both dogs were closely 
watched to prevent the very battle that he was 
planning. 

Bigness was now given a run morning and even- 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


95 


ing, but was kept in Ids yard the rest of the day 
when Waddles was at liberty ; but the time soon 
came when somebody forgot, and Bigness, hurrying 
home to early breakfast, met Waddles standing 
rigid and motionless by the corner of the house. 

* 

Anne, awakened suddenly from a late sleep, 
stood in the middle of her room half dazed, not 
knowing whether the sounds she heard belonged 
to a dream or to reality. 

Then the sound came again, the awful choking, 
snarling struggle of fighting dogs, always a 
horrible sound, but doubly so when you know the 
dogs. 

Anne ran to call her father, her heart pounding 
as if it would jump out of her mouth. Fortunately, 
he was already dressed and out, and as she almost 
fell downstairs, hardly touching the steps, the 
noise ceased and she heard her father’s voice say 
to Baldy : “Put him in the old hay barn until I 
decide what to do. I will attend to Waddles.” 
Then the door opened and her father entered 
with a distressed face, carrying the beagle in his 
arms. 

“ Is he killed ? ” she gasped. 

“No, neither very badly hurt I hope; but 


96 


DOGTOWN 


quite exhausted. I never shall forget the expres- 
sion of his face as he clung to that great jaw that 
was dragging him to his death ; it was like that of 
a man who was hopelessly fighting for his honour 
and home. 

“ This is no common dog-fight, little daughter, 
where both dogs should be punished and tied up 
until they come to their senses. Waddles has been 
with us so long that he has almost human feelings 
and reason ; to thrust him out to be a mere dog 
again would be wicked. Lumberlegs must go ! ” 

At these words Waddles, who was lying quite 
still on the door-mat where his master had laid 
him, opened his eyes and wagged his tail, with very 
significant if rather feeble thumps. 

^ * * * * * 

Though Waddles rallied very quickly, the bites 
on his neck, which had been this time collarless, 
had sunk in very deep, and though he was grad- 
ually growing less moody, he did not go far from 
the house or take up his old ways, and seemed 
quite conscious that Lumberlegs, though invisible, 
had not yet left the premises. 

One warm night about a week after the fight, 
when doors and windows were left open, and the 
dogs roved about at will, Anne waked to find 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


97 


that Waddles was sitting beside her bed in such a 
position that her hand that hung off the edge 
rested on his neck. 

“ What is the matter, old felloAV, do you want a 
drink ? ” she asked, patting him ; but as she did 
so she felt that one side of his neck was burning 
hot and swelled into a hard lump. 

Next day the veterinary came and pronounced 
Waddles a very sick dog, said that he had been 
poisoned by the deepest bite, and must have his 
neck lanced and be carefully treated, or he would 
die. 

“ I’ll take him right along with me to my hos- 
pital now if your man will put him in my buggy. 
He’ll have the best of treatment, and it will be 
cheaper than keeping him here and having me 
running over. Besides, you couldn’t take care of 
him ; it’s too much bother for you to dirty your 
fingers with,” said the doctor, kindly, for he saw 
the distress in Anne’s face. 

“ My fingers are quite used to dirt,” said Anne, 
quietly, “ and I’ve got a ‘ First Aid to the Injured ’ 
box full of cotton and plaster and bandages, and 
such like, for I fix all the cut fingers and base- 
ball noses hereabout ; there are five boys between 
here and the cross-roads that play, besides a fat 
girl and a medium-old lady who are having trou- 


H 


98 


DOGTOWN 


ble in learning to ride wheels, so you see I’ve had 
experience. 

“If you will lance Waddles’s neck here, I’m 
sure I can take care of him, and father will pay 
for the visits. Or, if he doesn’t want to, there is 
my camera money,” she added half to herself. 

This same camera money was a family joke and 
seemed to be composed of magic coin, which, no 
matter how often it was spent, never seemed to 
grow less, but rather to increase. 

“ You’d best let me take him to the hospital. 
You see, I’ve nothing to fasten him with, and he’ll 
have to be well bound, or he may upset the whole 
business and perhaps bite me to boot.” 

“ I’m sure he will sit quite still, for he always 
has before ; once the doctor took two stitches in 
his back because the milkman put barbed wire 
on his fence rails without Waddles’s knowing it. 
And then last spring when we were watching a 
man who didn’t know how to cast, splashing 
around the stream with a trout rod, he hooked 
poor Waddles, who was quite far up the bank 
behind him, and the hook had to be cut out, but 
Waddles never bit or squealed. He knows when 
he is ill, and that we want to help him ; but if he 
went away from home to the hospital, he would be 
too sad to get well, even if you were good to him.” 


EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


99 


“ She’s right,” said Baldy, taking a hand in 
the discussion. You jes’ do the business. I’ll 
see you ain’t bit, and I’ll help Anne fix the little 
critter up as often as needs be ’til he’s cured. 
Ah, yes, he’ll pull through all right if he stays 
to home ’cause he’ll want ter ; but if he’s fetched 
away, he jes’ won’t care.” 

So the deed was done. Waddles neither strug- 
gling nor crying, and great relief followed the 
point of the shining lance. 

“It’s different with medicines,” said Anne, as 
the sensitive nose quivered and sneezed when the 
doctor uncorked a bottle of pungent creolin to 
make a wash. “ Waddles doesn’t understand about 
them, and he may not like the bandages, because 
it seems like being tied up ; but if you’ll show 
me once, I know that Baldy and I can manage.” 

So every morning for a week, precisely at eight, 
when Baldy’s chores were finished, you might have 
seen Anne bring her “ First Aid” box to the back 
stoop, and change Waddles’s bandages, dressing his 
hurt as carefully as the doctor himself could have 
done. Baldy had to help by holding the patient 
when the creolin wash was used ; for W addles, the 
house fourfoot, could bear pain, but Waddles, the 
rabbit hound, could not endure a strong odour 
without choking and rolling in tho grass. 


LofC. 


100 


DOGTOWN 


In another week the bandages came off for 
good, and he had a bath, though he did not yet 
take any of his old interest in making his toilet. 



One day, however, a change came. He was 
lying on the decrepit old sofa in the upper hall, 
where Anne was used to curl up and read on 
rainy days. She had lent him her soft poppy 
chintz sofa pillow that she had made with great 
pains to match her bureau set, and Waddles, ly- 
ing there luxuriously, his head on the pillow 
and his paws held in front of him like hands, 
gazed at Anne with a glance in which affection, 
comfort, and sleepiness were mingled. 

Wheels crushed the gravel and Anne going to 
the window saw the runabout wagon with Baldy 
and a strange man in it driving out of the stable 
yard. Between them on the bottom sat Bigness, 






Miss Muffet, Brother, and Bigness. 



EXIT LUMBERLEGS 


103 


his head almost on a level with theirs, while he 
strained at his collar and looked back longingly 
as he passed the house. 

Anne knew that he was to -go to his new home 
that day. She had gone all alone to give him a 
parting hug that morning, and she choked as she 
looked at him. Tommy, meantime, was up in the 
hayloft having his cry out, with no other company 
than a white brahma hen who had stolen her nest. 

W addles sniffed, and getting stiffly down from the 
sofa raised himself, paws on window sill, and looked 
out. He saw the wagon, the men, and the dog, and 
he understood. He had the courtesy not to bark, 
but his tail wagged furiously. Then he dropped 
to the floor and began washing his face vigorously 
with his hind leg. Waddles was himself again. 

* * * ^ 

Bigness went to live with little Miss Muffet 
aud her brother at the hill farm half a day’s drive 
away, where he had his liberty, good eating, was 
their “ownliest,” and was hugged to his heart’s 
content ; but he never forgot Anne, and when 
she visited him he had eyes only for her, and 
awoke the echoes baying long after she left. 

Anne was his first love, and to be the first love 
of a big dog is a rather serious thing and not to 
be lightly undertaken. 



CHAPTER V 

JACK AND JILL WADDLES 

This is a chronicle of the doings of Jack and Jill 
the twins, pups of Waddles and Happy of Happy 
Hall, who, from the age of twelve days when they 
completely opened their eyes on the world, thought 
for a time, until they met experience, that it was 
made exclusively for themselves, according to the 
thinking of many two-footed children. 

After the going away of Lumberlegs, Waddles’s 
youth came back to him. He went off on long 
excursions with his neighbours, bayed a juicy 
tenor in the quartet that led the Dogtown chorus 
in its practise on moonlight nights, and actually 
threw bones into the air and played with them as 
of old. 


104 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


105 


Not that he could turn as quickly, and his port- 
liness got rather in the way as he tried to double 
on himself ; but the spirit was there, which is the 
thing that counts. 

Waddles, Mayor of Dogtown, had alwa5"S been 
an important person, but Waddles, the married 
man, father of a family and master of a home 
consisting of three houses surrounded by a fine 
yard and equipped with porcelain-lined food dishes, 
hay pillows, and other luxuries, was of double 
dignity. 

With the extra food supply necessary for more 
dogs, he was able to be a greater patron of the 
poor in the line of bones and left-over dog biscuit. 
Also it was not an unusual thing to see him pilot- 
ing a tired and thirsty dog, who had been follow- 
ing a team bound for the market town, to the 
trough that caught the well drippings, and then 
to a particularly cool resting spot under the quince 
bushes ; for this particular highway was a trying 
place for thirsty animals, as there was not a single 
spring or drinking-trough between the Hilltop 
Kennels and Happy Hall. Yet, in spite of all this 
outside notoriety, as far as his own particular fam- 
ily was concerned, he was tolerated, but that was 
about all. 

Anne expected that he would be sad or resent- 


106 


BOGTOWN 


ful, as when Lumberlegs claimed affection that 
Waddles considered his own exclusive property. 
He was neither the one nor the other. The prov- 
erb, “ Every dog has its day,” is evidently one 
of the recognized family dog laws. It was Mrs. 
Happy Waddles’s day just then, for was she not 
the mother of the twins ? 

It was to her apartments in the big kennel once 
owned by Lumberlegs that visitors went and gave 
ohs and ahs of admiration. Her ladyship had new 
milk and all the tidbits, and did not have to sub- 
mit to a bath for several weeks lest she should 
be chilled. 

Waddles was polite but bored ; he spent a great 
deal of time under the flap of the cellar door where 
he could keep an eye on his home from a distance. 
He also did a great deal of thinking in these 
days. 

There are people who say that dogs have no 
family life, but that is either because these people 
do not really know dogs or have only seen them 
reared in great kennels, for kennel dogs are as dif- 
ferent in their instincts and feelings from home 
dogs as orphan-asylum children are from home- 
cuddled babies. 

Though Waddles kept rather aloof from his 
family, what else could he do ? As they were not 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


107 


living in a state of wild nature it was not neces- 
sary for him to hunt food for them. 

If he asked Happy to take a walk, she would 
give him her usual little caress on the nose and 
trot beside him as far as the gate perhaps, then 
suddenly turn as if she had forgotten something, 
drop her body after a way she had when she put 
on speed, and dash back to her house as if it was 
the burrow of a rabbit whose fresh trail she had 
crossed. 

Once or twice Waddles had gone into the nurs- 
ery kennel and sniffed at the pups in an inquisi- 
tive sort of way, but Happy immediately nosed 
herself between them and their father, as much as 
to say, “ Please be careful, men are so awkward,” 
when he quickly retired under the cellar door, to 
his watch tower on the porch corner, or to his 
bachelor kennel, the third and smallest house of 
the group. This he had always used as a retreat 
from sun and rain, or when he was too muddy 
from hunting to make him welcome in the house, 
only being chained tliere as a punishment or in 
emergencies. 

When Jack and Jill were three weeks old, and 
might fairly be said to be on their legs, they were 
as pretty a pair of beagles as one could wish to 
see. Equally mated in size, build, and general 


108 


DOGTOWN 


colouring, Jack, however, having the longer ears 
and rich brown head markings ; yet in temper 
and general behaviour they were as different from 
one another as any two dogs could be. 

Jack was affectionate and sedate, with a patient 
expression in his steel-blue eyes that one day 
would, doubtless, be deep brown like his father’s. 
Jill was impetuous, which often passes for affec- 
tion, capricious as April sunshine, with an expres- 
sion of pretty impertinence upon her face. She 
had dark lashes and a rim of dark brown around 
the edges of her eyelids which gave her a look of 
mingled wisdom, slyness, and determination to 
have her own way, that was at first captivating. 

Happy was a model mother, and as soon as the 
pups had their breakfast she gave each a bath from 
head to foot, or rather tail tip, with much effort 
and many grunts. 

These were the first puppies that Anne had ever 
been with so intimately that she could watch their 
growth from day to day, and it seemed as if she 
did little else but watch them when she was out 
of school ; in addition she had all that she could 
manage in keeping Tommy from carrying them 
about, to the destruction of their digestions and 
the straining of their backs. 

All Anne’s persuasion, however, did not have 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


109 


as much effect as the peremptory bark and nip in 
the ankle that Happy administered one morning, 
when she surprised Tommy in waking the twins 
from their nap that he might take them to ride in 
his wheelbarrow, for Happy, usually so meek, was 
at that time a despot whom no one on the premises 
thought of disobeying, with the exception of her 
daughter. 

It was very easy for Happy to give Jack his 
bath, but with Jill her patience was sorely tried. 
When it was time to do her back she would 
roll over and kick her legs in the air, chew her 
mother’s ear, or make a tug-of-war rope of her 
tail. Then, when the bath was completed all but 
her fat little stomach, she would grind it into the 
dirt and brace her paws, until her mother, quite 
out of patience, with a twist of one paw would lay 
Jill on her back with a growled rebuke and a curi- 
ous threatening expression of face which she made 
by turning back her upper lip from her teeth, as 
both fighting dogs and wolves do when freeing 
their jaws to bite. 

At three weeks old Jill had developed a shrill 
bark full ten days in advance of her brother. At 
four weeks she succeeded both in catching her 
own tail and in washing some mud from her hind 
paw very neatly. 


110 


DOGTOWN 


When Jack attempted to do the same he only 
tumbled backward out of the nursery door into 
the water dish, aided by a push from his sister, 
who then, rolled frantically about the floor in glee, 
while his mother roused from her one-eye-open 
doze and seized the opportunity to give him an 
extra bath. 

When the twins were six weeks old Happy 
began their education in earnest. Kennel puppies 
are usually weaned about this time and are sepa- 
rated from their mother, so that instead of being 
trained by her to act and think for themselves, 
they only learn, often through punishment, blind 
obedience to rules they do not understand. Of 
course this sort of puppyhood does not make as 
clever a dog as the other. 

Waddles himself was an example of early train- 
ing by his mother, who, being a poor widow with 
a large family and owned by a very unsuccessful 
truck farmer, had great difficulty in making both 
ends meet ; consequently W addles and his brothers 
and sisters were taught very early to shift for 
themselves. 

It was owing to his patient cleverness in catch- 
ing a small squirrel by the roadside that W addles, 
when only four months old, had attracted the 
attention of Anne’s father, who bought him from 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


111 


his owner for five dollars. As Anne once said, it 
seemed strange that five dollars could buy so much 
when often one got so little for it ; and then as she 
grew to love him as a friend she did not like to 
think that he was bought at all, for it did not 
seem right to sell such as he without his own 
consent. 

* Jit 

After learning to be clean, the second lesson 
that Happy, taught the twins was how to keep 
cool. Anne knew very well that dogs do not per- 
spire like people, but only by the moisture that 
drips from their mouths, so that they need 
plenty of cool water to drink and shady places to 
lie in if they are to be comfortable in hot weather. 
She also knew that Waddles and Lumbeiiegs dug 
themselves holes in the dirt, as she thought to keep 
off the flies ; but wliy Happy should try to burrow 
under the foundation of the nursery puzzled her. 
It was not to bury bones, for the chosen spot for 
that was far away from home. 

To help her, as well as to see what she would do, 
Anne loosened two or three stones from the foun- 
dation of the tool house that stood next to the 
kennel, much to Happy’s delight, who then began 
to burrow furiously, throwing the dirt behind her 
with her strong front paws. 


112 


DOGTOWN 


All day long she worked, while as soon as the 
dirt ceased coming out at the mouth of the burrow 
Anne could hear it flying up against the floor of 
the tool house, which, by the way, her father also 
used as a dark room for developing photographs. 
Late in the afternoon Anne heard Happy whining 
by the outside wall. She had kept at work all day, 
only leaving to feed the pups who at this time 
varied their milk diet with a dinner of puppy bis- 
cuit soaked in weak soup. Anne loosened a couple 
of stones at this side as well, and in a very few 
minutes Happy dug herself out and circled about, 
barking with every symptom of joy. But when 
Anne was about to replace the stones, the little 
beagle thrust herself between her mistress and the 
burroAV in the same way as she had come between 
Waddles and the pups, when he came to look at 
them. 

Anne saw that Happy was working out some 
plan of her own, so she waited and the next day 
discovered it. 

In the morning when she went to look at the 
pups they were nowhere to be seen, the gate of 
the yard was closed, and for a moment Anne 
feared they might have been stolen, but baby 
barks from^under the tool house reassured her. 
Going to the outside opening of the burrow and 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


113 


lying flat in the grass she peered in. At first she 
could see nothing, but in a minute the light from 
between the stone chinks revealed Happy and the 
twins stretched flat on their stomachs in the fresh 
earth, Mamma dozing comfortably, the young- 
sters yap-yapping to themselves ; for having a 
deaf parent they were quite safe in saying any- 
thing that they chose. 

“ It’s a cool house, a regular summer day-nurs- 
ery, the dear clever mother to think of it ! ” ex- 
claimed Anne in delight, quite forgetful of the fact 
that her own chin was resting in the dirt. 

“ Of course if it’s the earth cooling down at night 
that makes the dew collect, it must cool their fat 
little stomachs somehow the same way, and puppy 
stomachs always seem to be boiling warm. Here 
we’ve been and pounded the dirt in the kennel 
yard as hard as rock to keep it from being dug 
up, just as if digging was only mischief instead of 
a ‘must be.’ Of course all dogs aren’t as wise 
about it as Happy and it wm rather mean of Lum- 
berlegs last summer to make a cooler out of 
mother’s mignonette bed when it was in full 
bloom.” 

****** 

It would never do for puppies to stay still all 
day even in so delightful a place as their mother 


114 


DOGTOWN 


had made. Its best use was as a retreat after 
exercising, of which they had plenty. 

If their food supply had been uncertain, “ food 
burying ” would have undoubtedly been their next 
lesson, and as it was, instinct whispered in Jill’s 
beautiful brown ears one day when she was eight 
weeks old, and when Jack was being vigorously 
dead by his mother she took liis portion of puppy 
biscuit and laid it, piece by piece, in the deep hoof 
tracks of the barn road, where a few shoves from 
her nose quickly covered it. 

Jack, on the other liand, did not begin to bury 
food until he was fully ten weeks old and had 
become quite accustomed to seeing his mother, 
father, and sister perform the task. Even then 
he did not use any judgment in the selection of a 
place or dig proper holes, but made very conspicu- 
ous mounds in the middle of the walks where the 
cache could be seen by the first passer-by. 

It was at this time that Anne discovered that 
Happy had two different ways of burying extra 
food. Meat or bones she invariably put in the 
earth, digging deep and covering carefully that 
the morsel might keep cool and not ripen too fast. 
She usually chose soft spots in the vegetable gar- 
den for this. Often having more food in storage 
than she needed, it stayed so long that the Sexton 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


115 



Beetles got away with a good deal of it, niucli to 
Happy’s surprise ; for as they bore it to their lairs 
underground, there was no surface trail to tell her 
keen nose whence it had been carried or by whom. 

If the morsel she wished to hide was dog bis- 
cuit, oatmeal cake, or corn-bread, Happy worked 
quite differently. After linding a thick tuft of 
grass, she pushed the scrap well into the centre of 
it and then pulled the grass blades together over 
the top, weaving them loosely as if her nose and 
upper front teeth had been a crochet needle. 


To “ watch out was one of the earliest lessons 
the puppies had to learn, and as it was taught 
partly in the cool house and partly on the road 
outside it afforded the children endless amuse- 
ment. “Watching out” also included taking 


116 


DOGTOWN 


notice of every strange thing that was brought 
to the premises, as well as of things neither new 
nor strange, and thoroughly investigating them. 
As may be supposed many mishaps came of this 
habit, as when Jack, sniffing at a basket containing 
live lobsters which the fishmonger’s boy had left 
on the step while he carried a parcel to the 
kitchen, carelessly thrust his nose in too far and 
was seized by a sturdy lobster claw. There 
was a yelp of pain, and pup and lobster went 
whirling around the big apple tree. The entire 
household came to the rescue, and Jack retired to 
the cooling house wiser not only by the experi- 
ence of a nipped nose, but a pinched tail as well. 

It was not the fault of his mother’s lessons — he 
simply had not put two and two together ; in his 
eagerness to see what the lobster was doing he 
had entirely forgotten to “ watch out ” for danger. 

In the early morning, before the sun had crept 
around the apple tree, the twins usually sat on 
either side of the doorway to the burrow, with 
their mother lying on the grass near by. The two 
places were not equally good, as from one side the 
entire length of the path from the gate, as well as 
the garden and stables, could be seen at a glance, 
while from the other they could only see one way 
at a time without much neck twisting. 





Toad Hunting. 







JACK AND JILL WADDLK8 


119 


Jill nearly always managed to secure the best 
place and if Jack happened to get there in advance 
of her she resorted to various tactics to dislodge 
him. First she would amble down the walk with 
an eager expression on her face, and give a bark 
or two as if at an intruder. If this did not bring 
Jack out, she would sniff at the ground and then 
begin to dig frantically, giving the most ludicrous 
growls the while. 

Jack’s curiosity usually overcame him at this 
point, for toad hunting was one of the twins’ 
favourite sports, and he was never tired of digging 
out a fat old patriarch with a spotted hide who 
lived under a stone by the pump, and making him 
hop-hop-hop until he refused to budge another 
step and flattened himself obstinately in the dirt, 
when he was allowed to go home and rest for the 
next day’s excursion, and, strange to say, the toad 
rather seemed to like the performance. 

If both these lures failed, Jill would resort to 
force by sitting squarely on top of her brother. 
Soon he would move a little in order to breathe 
more freely or stretch his legs. As soon as he 
stirred, Jill settled more heavily until she was 
wedged between her brother and the stone side 
of the burrow, then one determined push settled 
the matter, and he would roll over, look at her 


120 


DOGTOWN 


ruefully, stretch himself, and take the second best 
place. 

Jack had a lovely disposition and never seemed 
to suspect any one of evil intentions ; as often as 
Jill played tricks upon him he was always sur- 
prised. Jill was much more quick-witted and far 
better able to take care of herself, but not half so 
pleasant a companion, Anne thought. 

Jack made friends very slowly and dodged into 
the burrow if a stranger came near ; but when his 
confidence was won, he did not forget. Jill was 
all airs and graces ; flatteringly friendly one min- 
ute and a little spitfire the next. 

Happy took care that the pups should have 
plenty of exercise to develop their muscles, and 
when she thought they had dozed long enough in 
the cooling house, she would get them out and 
incite them to play by running round in a circle, 
keeping to the outside edge at each round so that 
the course gradually widened until it took in the 
whole lawn. 

There were boxing and wrestling matches, also, 
in which Jill again usually had the advantage, for 
though Jack was the heaviest and had the longest 
reach, she was quick as a flash and invariably lost 
her temper and fought in earnest before the finish; 
then Happy interfered and began her endless task 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


121 



of washing the pair and crushing the fleas with 
her searching front teetli. 

At about four months the twins began to cut 
their grown-up teeth. This time was a period 
of disaster, for no one could predict what they 
would next choose for teething purposes. 

One day the barn was the scene of action. 
Baldy’s new rubber boots, a carriage sponge, and 
a horse blanket that hung low enough to be 
pulled from the rack were the sufferers. 

The next week, after rolling very thoroughly 
on some linen that was spread to bleach, they 


122 


DOGTOWN 


turned their attention to what hung from the line. 
Jill discovered that swinging to and fro by fasten- 
ing to a pyjama leg was good sport. Jack, trying 
to imitate her, unluckily chose for his swing the 
waitress’s best apron Avith an embroidered frill. 
Immediately there was a tearing sound, the slam 
of a door, and a much grieved pup assisted by a 
swinging slap from a wet towel disappeared in 
the burrow. 

Jill immediately scented danger, and dropped 
the pyjama leg. The tears she had made Avere 
not discoA^ered until the garment Avas ironed, and 
then it Avas laid to Jack’s account. 

Anne, ineanAvhile, Avas obliged to make the 
waitress a new apron, because she had been in 
charge of the twins at the time the mischief was 
done, the rule uoav being that they must not 
play at large until they had learued hoAV to 
behave. Anne had fully intended to watch them 
closely, but a strange bird song had floated over 
from the next field, and with a reassuring look at 
the pups who were pursuing the poor patient 
toad, she dashed off for only ten minutes, but that 
Avas quite enough. 

Tommy, hoAvever, Avas the indirect cause of the 
worst disaster of all, after an interim of several 
Aveeks when the daily damage had been merely 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


123 


the natural wear and tear of grass scratched up, 
an occasional roll in a flower-bed, or the mauling 
of a young chicken. 

This happened a couple of months after Miss 
Letty’s arrival, when the most serious haying of 
the season was in progress and the last loads of 
long, firm timothy were to be taken in that after- 
noon. 

Tommy took the pups from their yard soon 
after dinner and played with them for some time. 
Happy, who was rested from her motherly cares, 
the puppies now being weaned and quite inde- 
pendent, had taken up her old hunting trips, and 
this afternoon had gone off with Waddles, Mr. 
Wolf, Colin, Quick, and Tip after a vain effort to 
take the pups with her. 

After a while Tommy, tired of play, lay down 
on the grass, and let the pups crawl over him. 
Presently he heard the rumbling of heavy wheels, 
and the great hay wagon carrying Baldy and a 
couple of extra hands went out of the barnyard 
the back way. 

“ I’m coming for the last load ride,” called 
Tommy. 

“ You’d best be quick then ; this’ll be it, and it’ll 
be a full one, for Miss Letty and Miss Jule and 
Anne are all waiting up in the lot to get aboard.” 


124 


DOGTOWN 


“Wait, oh, wait a minute for me; it’s dreffle 
hot running so far,” wailed Tommy. But Baldy 
did not hear because the wagon creaked so. 

Tommy knew that he ought to put up the 
puppies, but they seemed to be fast asleep, the 
wagon was already out of sight, he must go with 
his sweetheart, for it was Miss Betty’s first ride 
on a load of hay — in short, he turned and ran 
after the cart without looking back. 

* * ^ ^ * 

The children’s father often took photographs of 
birds and flowers to illustrate the magazine arti- 
cles and books that he wrote, and that morning 
he had made a beautiful picture in the old mill 
glen of a wood-duck just leaving its nest in a 
hollow tree with its young. It was a very rare 
picture indeed, for these birds nest in deep woods, 
and he could not have taken it except that a 
bright streak of sun chanced to come through a 
gap and fell on the birds. 

After dinner he had developed the negative 
very carefully in the dark house, and then put it 
to wash in running water. 

There was no faucet in the dark house, but 
there was one at the head of the garden in a very 
shady place, and it was under this faucet that the 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


125 


washing box was always set. This time, however, 
having but one negative, it was left in a flat tray. 

The children did not know about this wonder- 
ful picture, for if they had even Tommy, anxious 
for a ride, would not have left the puppies to care 
for themselves. 

The twins awoke and finding everybody gone, 
set out on a tour of investigation. If only a squir- 
rel had scolded, or an apple fallen to attract them, 
but no, on they went, playing and scampering 
toward the garden. By this time they were 
thirsty, spied the running water, and amused 
themselves for a while by lapping it as it flowed. 

Then Jill stepped on the edge of the dish and 
tipped it up and the glass negative fell out on the 
grass face upward. Sniffing at it, she found the 
surface cool and something sticky on it that re- 
sisted. Of course she began to lick and lick with 
extra persistency, stopping now and then to cough 
and spit out the result, which, being gelatine that 
had been washed in chemicals, including puckery 
alum, did not suit her ladyship’s taste. 

A rapid step came round the house ; there was 
an exclamation of dismay, for all that was left of 
the priceless duck picture was a small sheet of 
smeared glass. 


126 


DOGTOWN 


When Tommy came home from the hay-field he 
went to bed, and it was not because he was tired. 

Anne pleaded for him, but it was of no use. Her 
father was quite stern, which was a rare thing. 

“ It is not the loss of the picture alone, it was 
because Tommy shirked a responsibility, just as 
you did the other day. Only, as it happened, by 
making a new apron you could undo your mis- 
chief, but Tommy cannot, so he must stay by him- 
self and think. And, moreover, if either of you 
forget again, the twins must go and live at the Hill- 
top Kennels until they also can be held respon- 
sible for what they do.” 

At this dire threat Anne had to blink to keep 
back her tears, and the worst of it was that Miss 
Jule and Miss Letty were coming to tea with 
Hamlet and Tip, also Mr. Hugh, and it was a 
moonlight night, and Anne and Tommy had ex- 
pected to walk part way home with them. 

* ^ ^ * 

Anne crept out to the dog nursery to see that 
all was safe and give the pups their supper, re- 
solving that if there were more accidents it should 
be neither her fault nor Tommy’s ; she would 
bear the responsibility for both. 

Happy had come home quite tired out and very 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


127 


muddy after her run, and with a wild look in her 
eyes that was unusual for this staid parent. She 
was lying on the floor flat as a pancake, while 
Jack, as if in return for her care of him, licked 
her face gently. There was something very 
beautiful in Jack’s love for his mother; he slept 
close by her at night and had the most tender 
way with her ; and once, when he was only two 
months old and a strange dog came into the gar- 
den and accidentally trod on Happy’s foot so that 
she cried. Jack rushed out, ridged up his back 
hair for the very 
first time and flew 
at the stranger in 
real if baby wrath. 

Happy did not 
lie still long, but 
paced up and 
down and sniffed 
eagerly, Jack 
watching her out 
of the corner of 
one eye. 

“ It’s the hunt- 
ing’s cornin’ on 
her,” said Baldy, 
looking over 



128 


DOGTOWN 


Anne’s shoulder as he came up with the milk 
pails. “ She’s larnt them pups most everythin’ 
but that, an’ some fine night she’ll get ’em out, 
no matter how fast you’ve shet ’em, for it’s natur. 
When she’s had ’em out a few times, then like as 
not she’ll be done with ’em and leave ’em to shift 
and take to her own ways agin. 

“Watch out when the moon’s bright and the 
dew’s heavy; rabbit hounds most alius begins that 
time, for trailin’s dead easy, an’ you’ll hear even if 
you don’t see nothin’.” 

***** 

After supper Anne took the twins out to show 
them to Mr. Hugh, who was a good judge of hunt- 
ing dogs, and for the first time she noticed that 
not only was Jack growing larger than Jill, whom 
Mr. Hugh pronounced nearly perfect in the mat- 
ter of points, but that he was of a different shape. 
His legs were longer and he leaped along and did 
not drop his body when he ran, as his mother and 
father did, so that the family name of Waddles 
seemed inappropriate. 

“Yes; he’s a trifle weedy for a beagle ; he is 
really a typical harrier hound,” said Mr. Hugh. 
“He gets that combination through his grand- 
father, who was a foxhound, and one of the truest 
dogs in the country. 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


129 


“You see, Mistress Anne, Jack’s grandmother 
was a handsome, wild, headstrong young thing 
like Jill here, and she didn’t wait until her family 
arranged a match for her with one of her own 
class, hut eloped with Squire Burley’s handsome 
hound, Meadowlark. Her family would not for- 
give her at first or recognize her husband, and the 



Jack. 


poor thing had a sad time of it ; that is why 
your father was able to buy Waddles for five dol- 
lars. But never mind, for if Jack has his grand- 
father’s long legs he’ll make a good runner, and I 
think that he has his good temper and cleverness 
as well — we always take Meadowlark out with 
Leonora and Wildbrier when we are training the 
young hounds, for he keeps them together and we 


130 


DOGTOWN 


seldom lose one, and that reminds me, Ave are go- 
iim out to-nig’ht for the first time this season. 
Later on, you shall go, for on an autumn night 
there’s nothing like the music of hounds. Even 
with the mixed pack we have, one or two from 
half a dozen farms, every man can recognize the 
voice of his own dog. 

“ Where do we go to-night ? Ah, this will be 
merely baby work ; we lead Squire Burley’s pet 
fox around the brush lots for a couple of miles 
and then when he’s safely home and in bed, we 
put the youngsters and a couple of steady old 
dogs on the trail ; then, Avhen they come back, we 
give the babes something good to eat as a reward. 

“ Later we go but in earnest and follow the real 
trails on foot to locate the dens for the autumn 
and winter clearing. It’s good work ; foxes are 
no joke to the farmers in the back country.” 

“ I’d love to go, that is, sometime when you 
aren’t killing the foxes. They seem too much 
like dogs to kill them. Don’t you think Miss 
Letty would like to go ? I heard her ask Miss 
J ule the other day if she ‘ rode to hounds ’ in the 
fall, and said that she had done it in England, but 
Miss Jule said, ‘hereabouts some people ride and 
some run, for Ave slioot our foxes, Avhich is more 
to the point than letting the dogs tear them to 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


131 


bits ; ’ but Miss Letty thought she wouldn’t care 
to run.” 

“No; nor ride far either,” said Mr. Hugh, 
dryly. 

* * ^ * 

Hamlet, whose hair was now about an inch long 
and neatly trimmed, was quite a respectable citi- 
zen, and from having plenty of exercise and dog 
companionship he had lost the nervous habit of 
shrieking when he barked. He and Tip had 
formed a fast friendship with just a bit of jealousy 
to bind it, for they both adored Miss Letty, Miss 
Jule declaring that her own nose was out of joint, 
for Tip, who had always slept on his mistress’s 
hearth rug, had transferred himself to the hall by 
Miss Letty’s door where he lay nightly with his 
nose close to the crack so as to get in the minute 
she awoke. Then, too, from being a very indepen- 
dent individual, who came and went as he pleased, 
under the coaxing of what Miss Jule called 
“Letty’s squash talk,” he learned to fetch and 
carry and sit up in a queer, helpless way, holding 
her slipper in his mouth with the most adoringly 
silly expression on his face. He had to prop him- 
self against something, it is true, for his hind legs 
were not constructed for this position, but his 
intentions were of the best. 


132 


DOGTOWN 


After supper the family at Happy Hall laughed 
until they were weak at his efforts, while poor 
Tommy, hearing the echo of their merriment, 
sobbed bitterly all alone in his little white bed. 
Anne had not forgotten him and instead of taking 
the moonlight walk that she so loved, with her 
father and mother, part way home with the 
guests, she called Waddles and slipped away up- 
stairs to comfort Tommy, and tell him the news 
that Miss Letty had a new sailor hat and a plain 
white gown with no lace upon it that did not trail 
in the dirt, and yet that she looked even prettier 
in it than in her “ flower lady ” dresses. Also 
that she had put the cookies on his supper tray 
herself, and told Anne to take him a kiss and 
tell him that sometimes very big men forgot 
things that they ought to have done and did 
things they should be sorry for, and that Mr. 
Hugh got very red in the face when she sent this 
message. 

Then Tommy stopped sobbing, took interest in 
his untouched supper, eating it cookie end first, 
while at that moment the baying of hounds was 
heard toward the river woods and Waddles, hur- 
rying downstairs before Anne could catch him, 
pushed open the door and was off in full cry. 



Anne drew aside the curtain and looked out 




'1 'A 


A. 7^*1 


-ijr-v ‘li 4- ' 



C-' W N 

<» 



\ : fi-SAt; 

..ESsSMBfear- >.<.•' . 




JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


135 


Anne must have been asleep some hours, though 
it only seemed a few minutes, when she was 
wakened by an unusual sound and sat up to 
listen. The moonlight was streaming into the 
room, and as she waited the clock in the hall 
below chimed and struck two. Again the sound 
came, the baying of one loud dog voice and two 
little bays. Anne drew aside the curtain by 
her bed and looked out. Everything was either 
in white light or black shadow. The cries came 
nearer, and four animals sped across the open 
tennis court. Anne could plainly see a rabbit 
pursued by three dogs. 

“ It’s Happy and the twins ; she’s teaching 
them the hunting all of her own accord when 
Mr. Hugh has to arrange it for the kennel dogs. 
Isn’t it wonderful ? ” said Anne, aloud, presumedly 
to the moon as there was no one else awake. 

“But how did she get the twins out, I wonder? 
It’s one of Pinkie Scott’s tame rabbits that live 
under her summer-house that they’re after though, 
and it’s sure to get back among the stones, and 
they’ll be disappointed. I must give them some- 
thing to eat when they come back as a reward, 
just as Mr. Hugh does the little foxhounds,” and 
thrusting her feet into her moccasin slippers Anne 
stole lightly down the back stairs. 


136 


DOGTOWN 


How Happy got her pups out was an undis- 
covered secret until Baldy found that the cooling 
house had a sort of switch-off burrow that led 
backward under the stone fence, which the faith- 
ful mother could only have made with infinite 
labour. 

Anne opened the kitchen door by the well and 
stepped into the moonlight, plate in hand. The 
baying and yelping had ceased, but she could tell 
by the swishing of grass and bushes that the dogs 
were returning. Soon they came in sight on the 
garden side ; the twins seemed tired and their 
heads drooped, while their mother encouraged 
first one and then the other by little licks and 
caresses. Of course they Avere both hungry and 
thirsty, and while the plate was being licked a 
window above opened and Anne’s father looked 
out saying, “ Anne ! out in your nightgown feed- 
ing puppies, or are you walking in your sleep ? ” 

“Feeding the twins, father dear,” she called 
softly. “ You see Happy has been teaching them 
the hunting and as there wasn’t any catching, 
giving them supper is a ‘must be.’ Mr. Hugh 
said so.” 

Then the Winds of Night whispered wood mes- 
sages in Diana’s ears and drew her long hair 
through their fingers, and little Oo-oo, the screech 


JACK AND JILL WADDLES 


137 


owl, laughed far off in the river woods, so that 
long after she was asleep the sounds turned into 
dreams. 

As to Waddles, he stayed out all night and was 
discovered tired and muddy on the door-steps the 
next morning. When he was being brushed, 
Anne asked him, “ Why he had not helped 
Happy teach the pups ? ” He gave her a reproach- 
ful look that said: “ I’m surprised at you, mistress. 
I go with the men dogs; teaching pups the hunt- 
ing is woman’s work.” 


CHAPTER VI 


TABLE BOARDERS 

When Miss Letty had been two months at the 
Hilltop Farm everybody had fallen in love with 
her, twofoots and fourfoots alike. That is, 
everybody but Mr. Hugh ; he was simply polite 
and tolerant, treating her new enthusiasm for 
dogs, horses, and outdoor things as merely the 
whim of a spoiled child. 

Miss Letty had packed her Paris finery away 
in Miss Jule’s big garret, excepting a few pretty 
things for evening wear, and went about in white 
duck skirts and dainty white shirt waists, belts 
and ties, for as she said, “ If you are much 
with dogs and horses, it isn’t enough to have 
gowns that will wash, you must have things 
that are boilable.” 

So Tommy changed her narrie from Flower Lady 
to White Lady, and doubled his devotion, reck- 
lessly buying three cookie cutters at the ten-cent 
store in town, — a heart, a rabbit, and a rooster, — 
138 


TABLE BOARDERS 


139 


that his offerings of ginger cakes and jumbles 
coaxed from cook might not lack variety. The 
heart and rooster cookies were sure to be in 
good condition when Miss Letty received them, 
but the rabbit offered greater temptation to 
Tommy in transit. It was a queerly built rabbit, 
and stood very high on its legs. Tommy dis- 
covered that if the legs were nibbled off carefully 
and evenly, bunny looked as if he was lying down, 
so if the cookie was particularly crisp, and tempta - 
tion overcame him, he soothed his scruples by 
telling Miss Letty that “ to-day the rabbit is 
tired.” 

As for Anne, she had found a companion after 
her own heart, for Miss Letty was as happy in 
her newly found freedom as a young house-bred 
animal having its first taste of liberty. Anne 
offered to give up Fox, but it was not necessary, 
for Miss Letty could control Miss Jule’s own 
mount Kate by merely a pat on the neck, and 
together the two girls — for at this time Miss Letty 
was as young as Anne — explored every wood path 
in the vicinity, having an escort of Dogtown 
police in the shape of Mr. Wolf, Quick, Tip, and 
Waddles to protect them, with Colin as a sort of 
clown to amuse them when they rested. 

At first Miss Letty spoke in French to Anne, 


140 


DOGTOWN 


because her mother asked it and it was really her 
own tongue, but she soon stopped, saying frankly 
that it seemed as much out of place in New Eng- 
land wood and farm life as her lace frills or Ham- 
let’s long curls and bracelets, while Anne’s Indian 
names for beasts and birds caught her fancy, and 
Miss Letty was as quick as Anne in detecting an 
unusual bird note, even though she might not 
know the name of the bird. 

In fact, she was rather slow in learning to name 
birds by sight, and came galloping down so often 
to tell Anne that there were some great strange 
birds in the meadow, with green and blue feathers, 
when they were only crows, or perhaps grackles 
seen in the bright sun, that it came to be quite a 
joke. But if she once learned a bird’s name from 
hearing its song, she never forgot it. 

It was Miss Letty also who discovered that Tip 
and Colin had musical ears, and could be made to 
sing. Waddles had always been a musician of 
ability, being so sensitive to vocal sounds that 
Anne was obliged to shut him up in the farthest 
away barn if her mother had a musical evening. 

Jolly piano music seemed to annoy him, and he 
would get up and walk away of his own accord, 
with an injured air ; but if Anne in practising 
chanced upon a minor scale, then from under 


TABLE BOARDERS 


141 


sofa, bush, or remotest spot, where the sound 
carried. Waddles appeared tiptoeing along with 
tail erect and wonderful dilating eyes. 

If he happened to be indoors, he would come 
within two or three feet of the piano ; if outside, 
to the nearest door or window, and sitting down, 
throw back his head and let the sound well forth, 
high and in key with the scale, only dropping to 
a throaty gurgle when he had to take breath. 
On and on he would sing until the scale stopped, 
and then he crept away to seclusion, as if quite 
exhausted, and lying quite still, gave an occa- 
sional little bay that sounded like a sob. 

This singing was entirely different from the 
baying and full cry of hunting hounds, and after 
a while Anne discovered that there were three 
other sounds than her minor scales that produced 
it, — the call of the whip-poor-will, the quavering of 
a screech owl, and a French horn that one of Mr. 
Hugh’s stable men played, which, in spite of the 
distance, sounded quite clear and true when the 
windows were open on summer nights. 

Tip, Quick, and Colin’s singing was of a differ- 
ent order, but quite remarkable, for setters and 
spaniels are not credited with the voices that 
belong to all hounds, and when, during one of 
their lessons, as Miss Letty, with finger raised, 


142 


DOGTOWN 


whistled the tune that started them, Mr. Wolf’s 
sombre, deep-barking St. Bernard voice suddenly 
joined, counteracting the fox terrier’s double high e. 
The effect was astounding. Mr. Hugh, who was 
riding up the wood road, stopped short in sheer 
amazement, muttering to himself, “ It’s odd that 
such a little butterfly creature should have so 
much influence with dogs.” Then, as the lesson 
ended, and Quick, having scented him, came bound- 
ing across the lawn, showing that he had a paper 
frill round his neck and a small red cigar 
ribbon bow on his tail, he said something about 
“ more circus tricks,” and gave his horse a quite 
unnecessary cut with his whip and galloped away. 
Quick following much to his chagrin. If he had 
looked back he would have seen Miss Jule stand- 
ing at the road edge laughing until the tears ran 
down her cheeks, while Miss Letty danced along 
the piazza holding Hamlet’s paws, saying : “ We’ve 
shocked the Great Bear again. I wonder what 
he will say when he sees you ride Fox, all dressed 
in your red jacket.” 

Miss Letty had taken great pains to keep out of 
Mr. Hugh’s way ever since the day that she first 
met him, when she heard him tell Tommy that he 
did not care for people who were “ not useful ” ; 
and she never spoke of him except as the Great 


TABLE BOARDERS 


143 


Bear, giving her aunt as her reason for the name, 
that when she looked out of her window at night 
at the stars, the constellation of the Great Bear 
(which is commonly called the Dipper) pointed its 
tail straight at Mr. Hugh’s house. 

Everything had been quiet in Dogtown for some 
time. To the twins the novelty of the first hunt- 
ing trips was wearing off, and Happy was resum- 
ing her usual habits, — going to walk with Anne and 
Waddles, sunning herself by the lilac bushes, and 
going nightly for the cows with Baldy. Now she 
had also her devoted son and servitor for a com- 
panion, Jill only going by fits and starts as suited 
her. 

Monotony, however, is against the laws of Dog- 
town, and to prevent such a state of things, for 
nobody could see any other reason, one fine morn- 
ing Miss Jill ran away. 

At least Anne insisted that this was the case, 
though she could not prove it, and all that was 
really known was that when Baldy came for the 
milking pails at 6 A.M., he let Happy and the 
pups out of the nursery kennel ; and that two 
hours later, when Anne went to feed them. 
Happy and Jack were waiting for her, but Jill 


144 


DOGTOWN 


was nowhere to be found. Moreover, when Anne 
whistled to Jack and said : “ Where’s Jill ? Find 
Jill ! ” instead of running about and giving funny 
shrill barks as usual until she answered, he paid 
no attention whatever. 

Tommy suggested dolefully that the train might 
have killed her the same as it had Lily, but a care- 
ful search proved the contrary. Anne’s father 
was inclined to believe that she had been stolen 
by some one going to the market town with a milk 
or vegetable wagon, as many such passed by, and 
Jill had always made friends rather too easily. 
Miss Jule scoffed at this, saying that the people 
about were all too fond of dogs to allow such a 
theft to pass unpunished, and had followed up all 
dog stealing so swiftly that it had become almost 
an unknown crime. 

Nevertheless, Miss Jule called up the sheriff, 
who was a lover of animals, and if he once saw 
a dog could recognize it again anywhere, and 
sent him scouring the countryside over, with no 
result, for Jill had vanished as completely as if 
she had taken wing. 

“ Of course I’m sorry,” said Anne, rather doubt- 
fully to Miss Letty, who came down to offer sym- 
pathy; “but it isn’t as if Waddles, or even Jack, 
had gone. It is horrid to lose anything, and not 


TABLE BOARDERS 


145 


to know what has become of poor Jill, for she may- 
be hurt and lying somewhere sick and hungry, yet 
somehow I think that she didn’t care much for us, 
and that she has been planning to run away for 
some time.” 

Miss Letty laughed at the notion, but Anne 
could not be shaken in her belief, and as there 
was nothing to do but wait, she waited. Mean- 
time Happy Hall was quite a tranquil place, that 
is, on the rare days when neither Hamlet, Mr. 
Wolf, Quick, nor Tip came to visit Waddles, or 
Schnapps and Friday did not come to drink in the 
cow pond and meet Pinkie Scott’s fox terriers and 
Hans Sachs the dachshund on the war-path for 
rats behind the barn. Pinkie’s house being just 
above. When this happened, hard words were 
exchanged, for though Schnapps and Hans Sachs 
had been litter brothers, they were now in deadly 
feud, and of course Friday stood up for his chum. 

****** 

The summer of this particular season that the 
children always remembered afterward as “the 
year when Miss Letty came,” was very warm 
indeed, and Anne established a midday retreat in 
her beloved old apple tree, or rather two retreats. 
One was high up in the broad branches where you 


146 


DOGTOWN 


could look down into various birds’ nests. A few 
slats, placed long ago by Obi, the garden boy, had 
been added to by Baldy, so that the perch had 
places for three. The other was a sort of house 
below, furnished with chairs, a table, and ham- 
mocks. This gave shelter above and below even in 
rainy weather, and from it in different directions 
the lawn, garden, shrubbery, kennels, and distant 
hills could be seen with all their inhabitants of 
flowers, butterflies, birds, and fourfooted animals. 

Anne called this place the “ time eater,” because, 
as she said, “you go there to stay a minute, or 
you sit down to read, but you don’t come away 
and you don’t read; you simply look and listen, 
and before you know it is dinner time, and the 
morning is all eaten up.” 

The things that Anne and Tommy heard there 
as they spent their vacation time together were 
Heart of Nature’s own stories, and it was his own 
voice that told them. 

It was also a good point of vantage from which 
to watch the play of the dogs, and Anne discovered 
one thing beyond question, that where dogs live 
and are fed there the birds gather. In fact, dur- 
ing the nesting season that year the doings of the 
birds and little beasts that fed from the dogs’ table 
would fill a whole book. 






^ ^ :' 'J 

/ * ■■■- ’ J ‘ * 



*• 4 


r ', ‘^1 




*’-‘.1 


4 




» • A 


'^liS » 


h i 




• V. 






r - J - 




^ 

^ ' 'I . 



• II , ■ 


» \L^ 


•'I . 


*.* -v^lj t r* ' 
V** - xjIB < ^ 






f -* 



>> 


4 ^ T 


» 4 .’ 



W '^‘< ■■ -I 



>r • r . 



.? rS - 


, " X'"^- ^ ‘-^ 

V ^ • i '- 


•t 




V 







• ¥» 



isl 

-;! t- 

• •• 

. - " i^,V .. 9 






: u . « ^ Lit 





Ame and Tommy 





TABLE BOARDERS 


149 


At the north of the nursery kennel was a broad- 
topped stone fence. Being convenient and of 
exactly the right height, Anne used a wide hollow 
stone as a mortar for pounding the dog biscuit, 
taking a narrow stone for a pestle, for the Wad- 
dles family all preferred drinking their milk or 
soup, and having the biscuit in bits the size of 
small lumps of sugar so that it could be gnawed 
like a bone, to having it soaked into pulpy stew. 
Of course there was cracker dust left in the mor- 
tar, and little bits would fly about here and there. 
But no matter how much dust was left at evening, 
the next morning found this place as clean as if it 
had been scrubbed, so Anne began to watch. 

There was a pair of song-sparrows that had 
their second nest in a great rose-bush by the 
walk, and though the parents gave their nest- 
lings only insect food, they fed upon the biscuit 
crumbs. These two soon grew so tame that 
when they had cleaned the wall they hopped 
about the dog houses and helped themselves 
from the dishes, giving shy little flutters if the 
twins barked at them, but only going a few 
feet and returning very quickly. 

Then there were the chipping sparrows, the 
dear little brown velvet-capped birds, who are so 
tame that the Latin word for sociable is part of the 


150 


DOGTOWN 


name the wise men give them. They actually 
hopped on Waddles’s back and almost caught the 
moist bits that fell from his jaws. 

The goldfinches came also, beginning in early 
spring when the males and females wear the same 
clothes of dull olive-brown and black, and making 
daily visits all through the season until the males 
after wearing a mottled costume put on tlieir 
yellow wedding coats and black caps, and put 
them off again. 

Black and white nuthatches took their dog food 
differently, picking up the larger bits and carry- 
ing them into the apple tree, where they ham- 
mered them to pieces exactly as they would crack 
beechnuts or corn kernels. 

Anne was not surprised that birds like these 
should feed on dog biscuit, but when catbirds, 
robins, and phcebes — the air-living fiy catchers — 
began to be the regular table boarders of the 
Waddles family, she began to wonder. These last 
birds were of course first attracted by the kettle of 
cooked meat scraps that was often hung in the 
tree to cool ; but lacking meat, they were satisfied 
with the crumbs. 

One morning a lame-winged crow appeared 
from the wood edge and walked solemnly up to 
the dish where Jack and Jill were eating, giving 


TABLE BOARDERS 151 

a squawk that sent them in haste to the nursery, 
though Jill soon came back and attempted to 
flirt with his crowship, which so surprised him 
that he nearly choked to death by swallowing too 
quickly. This ended in Baldy’s catching the 
crow, who was not a welcome garden guest, as 
was proved by the chorus of alarm notes that 
arose at his appearance, and he actually had the 
destruction of many orchard homes written 
against him in the Birdland records. 

One morning Bobwhite, who had been whistling 
and telling his name proudly from the protected 
meadows all the spring, appeared on the fence. 
Anne held her breath and Tommy watched, round 
eyed with eagerness. Bob threw back his head 
and proclaimed his name proudly ; then no one 
disputing him he called more plaintively, poor-bob- 
white ! dropped from the wall to the grass, and 
then walked along the gravel path as unconcern- 
edly as any barnyard fowl. Coming to where the 
pups had upset their dish, he gave a few scratches 
and began to pick up the smallest bits as if he 
was gleaning grain in the stubble. 

At this moment Mrs. Waddles coming round 
the house corner flushed Bob, and he rose with the 
whirring of wings that is one of the eery sounds 
of the autumn lanes every year before grouse. 


152 


DOGTOWN 


quail, and woodcock have grown too gun shy, 
and, going over the garden house, disappeared in 
the long grass. But he came again and took 
home a report of the good eating, for one summer 
morning a little after dawn, when Anne was sit- 
ting on the foot of her bed and looking out of her 
window, she saw what she at first took to be 
Tommy’s banty hen leading a large brood of 
chicks down the garden path. Rubbing her 
sleepy eyes, she leaned out of the window and 
saw that they were not the bantams, but Mamma 
Quail and the children out for a breakfast walk. 

Anne hurried down as quickly as she could, but 
Waddles cheered so loudly, thinking that she was 
also going for a walk, that the party disappeared in 
the quince bushes before she could steal up to 
them. It had rained in the night, and their 
chicken-like footprints in the fine moist gravel 
by the empty dog dishes told her that they had 
breakfasted there. 

In autumn the jays always came slyly to the 
oaks and beeches at Happy Hall and carried away 
nuts and acorns for winter use, storing some in 
a hollow chestnut in the pasture, and others under 
the shingles of the old cow barn. 

When the resting season came, however, they 
usually stole away to the pine woods across the 


TABLE BOARDERS 


153 


river, as Anne’s father did not encourage them 
about the garden; for whether or not they are 
always unneighbourly egg thieves, it is certain 
they carry terror to the gentler hearts of Bird- 
land, and at Happy Hall nothing might stay 
that could annoy the wood thrushes and brown 
thrashers that returned season after season. 

What was Anne’s surprise then one June morn- 
ing, to see in the orchard unmistakable flashes of 
“ jay blue,” which is a colour by itself, and not to 
be mistaken by the owner of the Magic Spectacles 
for the colour of either bluebird, indigo-bird, king- 
fisher, or heron. Next she heard the jay’s bell 
note, not the harsh jeering “jay -jay” of alarm, 
but the spring call, like the striking together of 
well-tempered bits of metal. Then came a chorus 
of alarm cries from all the birds of the neighbour- 
hood, and a commotion in the trees over the 
garden house. 

As Anne was going out to see what was the 
matter, a flash of blue crossed the sunlight and 
landed on the walk, and there was Tchin-dees 
the blue jay himself, in flawless bravery of 
feathers. 

He put his head on one side and peered here 
and there saucily, as much as to say : “ Where is 
your old dog bread, anyway ? Stingy this morning. 


154 


DOGTOWN 



aren’t you? Yes, I’ve been here before, you can’t 
fool me. I know it’s after breakfast time.” 

The dog dishes were not in sight, and there ap- 
peared to be no scraps upon the ground, but Tchin- 

dees was not 
daunted. In 
the nursery 
kennel slept 
Jack and Jill, 
stretched out 
as flat as if 
they were 
cookie dogs. 

Their food 
dish stood by 
the doorway, 
well inside. 
It was full, 
for they 
had not yet 
breakfasted. 

Tchin-dees spied it, took a survey of the situa- 
tion, hopped into the dish, and began to stir up 
the bits with his feet in order to more easily 
choose the smallest. 

He gave a start and flutter when he spied 
Anne, but making up his mind that a meal in 


TABLE BOARDERS 


155 


the stomach is worth several in the dish, returned 
to the charge, finally carrying an obstinate frag- 
ment to the stone wall where he beat it with his 
bill, keeping one eye on Anne meanwhile, and 
making a face at her she avers, as he flew away. 

When Anne told Miss Jule about the “table 
boarders,” she laughed and said, “What have I 
always told you should be painted on boards and 
posted in every country town like the ‘ keep-off- 
the-grass ’ signs in parks ? ” Anne remembered 
that it was, — 

“ If you hate birds, keep cats. 

If you love birds, keep dogs.” 

Truly, who can say that they have seen wild 
birds feeding from a cat’s dish when its owner 
was at home, or pulling out pussy’s fur for a 
nest lining. 

^ ^ * 

Among the fourfoots who shared the hospitality 
of the Waddles family table were coons, skunks, 
weasels, red and gray squirrels, chipmunks, and 
the various gnawers of meadow, wood, and wall, 
the least of these being the tawny-backed white- 
footed mice and tiny field mice, scarcely bigger 
than bumblebees. 


156 


DOGTOWN 


There were few mornings that stories of one or 
more of these animals might not be read by the 
keen-eyed on or about the stone wall, or on near-by 
tree trunks, in footprints on the ground or damp 
stones, or by claw marks on bark, etc. As to the 
field mice, they made the wall their -turnpike to 
which the various nooks between the stones were 
cross-roads, and all day long they came and 
feasted daintily upon the crumbs, sitting up and 
cleaning their whiskers and paws after each meal. 

Of late Anne had found many “ owl balls ” 
about the wall and under the pine trees, but never 
an owl could she see ; for though a few came about 
every winter, they generally went early to the 
deep woods, where they kept company with the 
jays. These balls, which, as the snow owl once 
told Tommy- Anne at his Xmas party, were 
the pieces of the things they ate but could not 
digest, and so rolled into little balls and spit out, 
seemed to be all made of the fur and bones of field 
mice; so really, as Anne told Tommy when they 
discovered them, “the Owls were the Waddles’s 
table boarders also, only in a sort of second-hand 
way because, you see, the mice eat the dog food, 
and then the owls wait until they are through and 
eat the mice. 

But where did the owls hide? Anne thought 


TABLE BOARDERS 


157 


that she knew every nook and cranny where they 
could nest, and Tommy usually managed to wrig- 
gle himself into the places she could not reach. 

One night there was a commotion in the or- 
chard ; the evening song broke up early, and birds 
darted to and fro, giving alarm cries. Happy 
and Jack started off together and in a moment 
Waddles followed, but instead of crying and go- 
ing nose to the ground, they sniffed the air and 
were silent, tiptoeing about among the ferns that 
grew under the pine trees. 

After Tommy had gone to bed Anne heard a 
strange quavering noise close to the house. It 
was pale moonlight, and stepping out Anne found 
that her father was walking down the wild path 
toward the orchard, so she joined him. As she 
was telling about the unusual sound, it came again 
quite close. It was a sort of crooning, ending in 
“shay-shay-shay,” as if dried peas were sharply 
shaken in a sieve. A moment later a dark object 
flapped across, brushing Anne’s face. 

“ A screech-owl,” whispered her father. “ Keep 
still a moment and I will see if I can call it.” He 
imitated the sound perfectly and again the bird 
swooped directly across his face, snapping its beak, 
while a second owl appeared a little farther on 
and began the same tactics with Anne. 


158 


DOGTOWN 



Anne tried to 
call and was so 
successful that 
she soon had to 
put her arms 
above her head 
to protect her 
face, the birds 
grew so bold. 

“ They must 
have a nest near 
by,” said her 
father ; “they 
are teaching the 
young to fly, 
and we are in- 
terrupting their 
signalling.” 

“Look, do 
look ! ” wliis- 
pered Anne. 
“ Oh, the dear 
little fluffy thing, it’s cuter than a kitten or 
a puppy,” and There among the pine branches 
in the moon path, directly on a line with her 
nose, perched a baby screech-owl, its little slant- 
wise eyes tightly closed. 


TABLE BOARDERS 


159 


Anne put up her hand to take it, but a screech 
owl, like a weasel asleep, is a deceptive thing. 
Six claws fastened themselves in her flesh, — claws 
barbed like fishhooks and of surprising strength. 
She tried to drop the baby, but it wouldn’t let go, 
and her father had to pry its grip off with a stick ; 
but the pain was soon forgotten by the sight of 
another owl farther up, and then another, until 
they had counted six of the fuzzy balls in addition 
to the parents. 

Anne, with her handkerchief tied about her 
hand, protested that it did not pain her, and so 
the pair stayed for an hour, and watched the play 
which consisted of signalling, flying, and then 
the feeding of the young birds as if by way of 
reward. 

Presently Waddles, Happy, and Jack came back, 
following each other in a straight line through 
the orchard and across the wall. As they turned 
into the wild walk. Mamma Owl, at least it was 
reasonable to suppose it was she, as the females 
are the most alert when the young are flying, 
swooped at Waddles who was in the lead, flapped 
him in the face with a heavy wing, and gave an 
unearthly screech not a foot from his sensitive ears. 

For once Waddles was daunted and sat down 
suddenly. Mrs. Waddles and Jack being close 


160 


DOGTOWN 



behind did likewise. The owl gave another scream 
and a long-drawn shay -shay -shay ; but this time 
instead of frightening Waddles, it seemed to strike 
the musical note in his soul, and settling firmly on 

his haunches he 
threw back his 
head and began 
to sing. His lips 
moved very little, 
but the chords in 
his throat could be 
seen to vibrate 
even by the moon- 
light. 

Jack, after a few 
squeaks and barks, 
joined in a queer 
trembling treble, 
and finally the 
noise penetrated 
Happy’s brain, 
deaf though she 
was, and she 
added to the din 
by a tune in a 
wholly different 
key. 


TABLE BOARDERS 


161 


The effect was as bewildering to Anne and her 
father as to the soldiers in a procession when they 
are an equal distance between two bands playing 
different tunes. At first they laughed, then put 
their fingers in their ears, called to the dogs and 
tried to stop the din, for it was being taken 
up far and near, the shrieks and imitation bays 
of Pinkie Scott’s fox terriers, who didn’t know 
how to sing, being particularly piercing. In fact. 
Miss Jule afterward said that all her dogs re- 
sponded, and that Mr. Hugh’s hounds and Squire 
Burley’s kept it up half the night. 

Jack and Happy were easily quieted, but Wad- 
dles was irrepressible and continued to sing to 
himself after he went to his sleeping place on 
the rug outside of Anne’s door, so that long after 
the household had vainly tried to go to sleep, and 
Tommy half waking had an argument with his 
mother, and insisted upon being dressed, saying 
that he knew it was morning, because he heard 
roosters,” Waddles was led out to his house and 
chained for the night, the severest punishment 
that he could have. 

Anne tried to console him from her window, 
but as soon as he seemed about to lie down, he 
began again, and Anne retired in disgust ; at her 
last glimpse of him he was standing motionless 


162 


DOGTOWN 


with liis head raised and facing the moon in 
musical ecstasy. She did not know, however, that 
Mamma Owl was mouse hunting in deep shadow 
along the wall back of the kennel, saying things 
that no self-respecting dog could hear and keep 
silence. 

The next morning Anne’s first thought was of 
the owls, and that she must try to find where 
they had nested. She believed that she and 
Tommy had explored every tree in the neighbour- 
hood since March when the ice melted. The nest 
must be somewhere in the orchard, for there was 
nothing in the owl boxes that were put in the 
pines several years before. 

When she threw open the shutters toward the 
wooded side of the place, her eye rested on two 
unusual bumps on the reddish bark of a Scotch 
pine. She looked again, and even without the 
aid of her field-glass saw that two of the baby 
screech-owls had settled for their daytime sleep in 
the crotches of the pine, their young rusty gray 
feathers so blending with the bark that it would 
have been impossible to see them except from the 
slant of light and the fact that she was on a level 
with them. 

Hurrying down she walked under the tree, and 
though she knew exactly where they perched, it 



Waddles Baying the Owls. 







TABLE BOARDERS 


165 



was some time before she could find them again. 
Their eyes were tightly closed, yet as she walked 
around the tree the heads turned and followed 
her until it seemed as if 
they would twist them off 
altogether. 

“ I know where some 
of those words come from 
that you do not like us 
to say,” Anne said to her 
mother as she went in to 
breakfast. “To ‘rubber 
neck ’ is a regular verb in 
pure owl, for I’ve just 
seen them do it.” 

Before the morning 
was out, the children had 
discovered three of the 
baby owls in a hemlock, 
and one parent perched in 
a hackberry close to her 
stone-fence dining room, 
probably waiting for sup- 
per time, as the table was 
then occupied by the lit- 
tle day birds that hopped 
about fearlessly, as if re- 


166 


DOGTOWN 


lying upon Anne and the bright sunlight for pro- 
tection, for little Oo-oo is a true night owl. 

After Anne had searched the orchard for the 
nest, and given it up in despair. Tommy found the 
owl’s home quite by accident. He was hunting 
for the sixth little owl, and thought he saw it in 
a pine near the house. Not being daunted by 
pine gum, he had nearly reached the top of the 
tree, which was bushy instead of pointed, as the 
leader had been snapped off in a sleet storm, and 
several branches were struggling to replace it. 
Suddenly he called to Anne in great excitement, 
for there, in the bushy plabe, resting on the thick 
stump of the broken tree-top, was the owl’s nest, 
not fifty feet from Anne’s window. 

It was not much of a nest, to be sure, merely 
a collection of sticks and matted pine needles, but 
that the six owlets had spent the weeks between 
hatching and flying in it, was proved by the bits 
of bones, fur, and beetle shells with which it was 
littered. 

Of course Anne had to go and look, and later 
on they coaxed Miss Letty up too, for it was 
quite easy climbing, if you didn’t mind the 
stickiness. As they all came down again, who 
should come in but Mr. Hugh to return a book. 
Miss Letty shook hands carelessly, without look- 







Waddles drew back and eyed it ruefully. 


TABLE BOARDERS 


169 


ing at him, thereby mischievously transferring a 
goodly share of pine gum from her palm to his ; 
but though he looked surprised, there was nothing 
for him to do but laugh, and it somewhat broke 
the stiffness that was always between them. 

Just then a pitiful howl led the party toward 
the long grass below the pines. A strange noise 
indeed, nothing less than Waddles howling with 
pain. He had found, and tried to retrieve, the 
sixth little owl, that had dropped from its perch 
into the long grass, and the owlet had seized him 
by the nose with its six talons, using its beak in 
the meantime. 

Anne, remembering her last night’s experience, 
drew back. Tommy foolishly cried “ sic-em ” in 
anticipation of a fight. Miss Letty would have 
grasped the bird if Mr. Hugh had not been 
quicker, giving it a little rap above the beak 
that made it loosen its hold and flop down in the 
grass, where it sat with wings partly raised and 
snapping beak, the picture of baby rage, while 
Waddles drew back and eyed it ruefully, head on 
one side. 

Anne’s father, seeing what was happening, ran 
for his camera and took a picture of the group 
before Waddles had recovered from his astonish- 
ment, and put himself to bed in his kennel both 


170 


DOGTOWN 


wiser and sadder. Moreover the twins did not 
spoil this negative. 

“ I think your Magic Spectacles need cleaning, 
little daughter,” said Anne’s father, laughing, 
when she told him of the near-by nest and how no 
one had even suspected that an owl family was in 
the garden, after all their efforts to attract little 
Oo-oo with boxes and ready-made nooks. 

“ The moral of that is,” said Mr. Hugh, pausing 
as he was telling Miss Letty of a compound that 
would take pine gum off white duck skirts, “ don’t 
try to manage wild birds. Keep dogs, be liberal 
with their table board, and watch out ; the birds 
will do the rest.” 


CHAPTER VII 


five-o’clock teas 

Pinkie Scott’s cousin Dorothy came to spend 
a week with her, and the two little girls 
planned to have an afternoon tea, not only 
for some friends, but for their friends’ dogs as 
well. 

Pinkie’s mother looked dubious when first ap- 
proached about the matter, but finally said that 
they might ask six people and six young dogs, 
thinking in this way to keep the festivities within 
handleable limits, as young dogs, like young 
children, are not so apt to have the fixed ideas 
and jealousies of their elders. 

Pinkie Scott was Tommy’s nearest neighbour, 
though that does not mean that she lived near 
enough for them to grow tired of each other’s 
society, for the houses on the hillside of Dogtown 
were few and set amid plenty of land. Pinkie 
had three dogs, — a stout black and tan dachshund 
named Hans Sachs, and twin fox terriers called 
171 


172 


BOGTOWN 


Luck and Pluck, which names exactly describe 
their character. 

Hans was an extremely amiable dog of the now 
fashionable “ turnspit ” variety, and possessed a 
keen sense of humour, which he expressed by a 
most wonderful scale of barks varying from 
a sub-cellar basso to high c. When a particular 
bit of fun tickled him, he would plant his bent 
fore feet, a joke in themselves, and whirl round 
and round like a pinwheel. 

He was Pinkie’s constant companion, followed 
her wherever she went, and slept on a mat at her 
door. Luck and Pluck, though devoted by fits 
and starts, were not nearly so reliable, often 
taking runs a whole morning long quite by 
themselves ; but then, unless fox terriers can run 
until they are tired, they jump about like four- 
legged electric batteries and make one nervous. 

Wednesday would be Dorothy’s sixth birthday, 
so the tea-party was set for that afternoon, and 
the day before, the two cousins, each carrying her 
pet doll, walked up and down in the shade of 
the arbour playhouse, trying to make up their 
minds whom they would invite and what they 
should have to eat, for parties were very infor- 
mal affairs among the little folks, an invitation 
given a day in advance being considered not only 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


173 


quite sufficient, but particularly desirable by their 
parents. It takes a very grand affair indeed to 
withstand long anticipation. 

“We’ll ask Sophie and Charlie Mayhew and 
Silvie their dog, of course ; that’s two people and 
one dog,” said Pinkie, counting on her fingers. 

“And Tommy and Anne and all their dogs,” 
added Dorothy. 

“Tommy and Jack Waddles,” corrected Pinkie. 
“ Anne is too old, and of course Mr. and Mrs. 
Waddles are.” 

“But Waddles loves tea parties and things to 
eat, and cheers like anything when he even smells 
five-o’clock tea biscuit,” pleaded Dorothy; but 
Pinkie’s mind was made up ; “ He is too greedy,” 
she said. “At Miss Jule’s dog party he ate 
nearly a whole box of ‘ five-o’clock teas,’ the 
lovely mixed ones, pink and chocolate and white, 
and mother has only given me two boxes for the 
whole party. Of course we shall ask Jessie and 
Jack Lane, and they’ve got two dogs, Toodles and 
Blackberry.” 

“ That only makes five people and five dogs,” 
said Dorothy, unable to deny Waddles’s greed, 
especially where the crisp tea biscuit, his pet 
delicacy, were concerned. “ Who will be six ? ” 

“Miss Letty and Hamlet of course,” replied 


174 


DOGTOWN 


Pinkie, with the air of one announcing a star 
attraction. 

“ But she is very, very old,” objected Dorothy, 
“ nearly as old as mamma, and Hamlet is just as old 
as Mrs. Waddles; I heard Miss Jule say so.” 

“You disunderstand,” said Pinkie, looking an- 
noyed at having to explain. “ You see, if the 
people who come are nice, there is always some- 
body old at a party to shampoorone it and see that 
people don’t eat too much or do too many things 
they like. Mother is going to take Aunt May to 
the Golf Club to-morrow, and so Miss Letty is 
going to shampoorone my tea. She’s lovely for 
that. Tommy’s had her and Sophie, and she won’t 
do it a bit hard, and Hamlet is going to be the 
entertainer and do all his tricks, and Miss Letty 
says that if we put the samwiches and biscuits in 
a basket with a handle, he’ll take it in his mouth 
and pass them round to the other dogs.” 

“My!” ejaculated Dorothy, opening her eyes 
very wide; “that’ll be better than Punch and 
J udy, besides we’ve been having them everywhere 
I’ve been all winter, and the man that unswallows 
the rabbit and the bowl of goldfish and paper 
flowers beside. But why mightn’t Hamlet run 
away with the basket and gobble the things him- 
self ? ” added the practical young lady. 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


175 


“■ Because — because he’s twained — he wouldn’t 
think of such a thing,” stammered Pinkie, such an 
objection never before having entered her brain. 

The guests being arranged, food was the next 
question. “ There’ll be ice cream and sponge 
cake and chocolates, and real tea to pour out of a 
tea-pot for us,” said Pinkie, readily, “ and five- 
o’clock teas, and samwiches with sausages between 
for the dogs, and buttermilk, and a bone each to 
take home with them. Mother told cook yester- 
day to collect nice strong bones that won’t chip up 
and hurt their insides. Then there’ll be cookies, 
too. You make dog cookies with lard. Miss 
Jule invented them, ’cause dogs love lard.” 

The guests being duly invited before luncheon 
on Tuesday, all promptly accepted before dinner 
time of the same day, and Pinkie and Dorothy 
went to bed very early, intending to rise with the 
sun and begin their preparations, for Dogtown 
mothers were very sensible and insisted that when 
little entertainments were given, the children 
should do as much as possible of the preparation 
themselves, instead of casting the burden upon the 
servants, and then spending the intervening time 
in fault-finding. 

Pinkie’s mother purposely darkened the room, 
however, so that they might have a good long 


176 


DOGTOWN 


sleep, for after breakfast was quite soon enough 
to begin. 

Pinkie discovered the very first thing that it 
wasn’t churning day, and was about to wail at the 
lack of buttermilk, which was a much esteemed 
beverage of at least five out of the six dog guests. 

“ Oi've crame enough for the shmall churn the 
day, and if ye’ll bate it for me I’ll make out to 
give ye the buttermilk, for wid the ice to freeze 
and cake and cookies I’ve me hands full,” said the 
good-natured Irish cook, wiping Pinkie’s tears 
away with the corner of her gingham apron, one 
of the peculiarities of the helpers in Dogtown be- 
ing that were they native or foreign, black or 
white, they were as fond of children and dogs as 
their employers. 

Dorothy wished to churn the butter, but as 
Pinkie said, “ The first time you do it, you splat- 
ter it all about, and nobody gets any buttermilk 
but the floor,” adding, “but I’ve done it more’n 
seven times, and I know how.” So Dorothy was 
persuaded to cut out the cookies instead, and 
chose a plain round cutter, saying wisely, “I’d 
best not make cat and rooster cookies ’cause it 
might teach the doggies to eat what they 
shouldn’t.” 

While Dorothy worked away at the table close 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


177 


inside the kitchen window, enveloped in an all- 
over white apron, on the other side of the lat- 
tice, Pinkie, sitting on a small bench in the corner 
of the back porch, delved away at the churning, 
while they exchanged reports of progress that 
were rather discouraging to the butter maker. 

It seemed to Pinkie that she had only fairly 
begun when Dorothy called out, “ First pan gone 
in the oven.” 

“ Ker-chunk — ker-chunk, ker-chunk,” answered 
the dasher in the churn, saying by the tone of its 
voice as plainly as any words, “ Only cream yet, 
and thin at that.” 

Pinkie stopped for a moment and brought out 
Julia Minnehaha, her favourite doll, whom she 
stood close beside her for company.” 

“ First panful baked, and they are lovely. 
Crisp and good if the butter in ’em is lard,” called 
Dorothy, in a mumbling voice that proclaimed 
that she was eating. 

“ You mustn’t eat them, they are for the dog 
company,” expostulated poor Pinkie. 

“ I’m only eating the broken ones,” said 
Dorothy. 

“Was there more’n one?” 

“Yes, three; you see when I help cook cut 
cookies at home I gener’ly make two or three 

N 


178 


DOGTOWN 



broken ones out of the edge pieces on purpose to 
eat, so that’s why there’s three now, and next pan 
there’ll be four.” 

“Won’t you bring me one and put it in my 
mouth ? ” coaxed Pinkie. “ ’Cause if I stop 
plunking this butter, it will what cook calls, 
“go back.” 

Presently Luck and Pluck appeared on the 
scene, drawn by the smell of the baking cookies 

and the sound of 
the churn, and 
stood licking 
their lips, look- 
ing alternately 
at their little 
mistress and 
backward toward 
the kitchen win- 
dow with a wist- 
ful gaze. 

“ Ker-swish — 
ker-swash!” 
said the butter- 
milk, as it sepa- 
rated from the 
butter with a 

^'Butter's come!" watery splash. 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


179 


“ Butter’s come ! ” cried Pinkie. “ Now listen, 
doggies, you are going to have company this after- 
noon, so now you can only have two drops of 
buttermilk apiece.” 

“ The cream is frozen and the dasher is ready 
for us to scrape, hurry up,” called Dorothy, com- 
ing to the window armed with a plate and two 
spoons, “ and it’s all pink with fresh stwaberries, 
too, the very last in the garden.” 

When this new excitement had subsided, and 
the frosting of the sponge cake hearts and rounds 
for the twofooted company had been closely in- 
spected, with many remarks of regret that not one 
of these delicacies could, by any stretching of 
conscience, be called even damaged, it still lacked 
an hour of luncheon time, and the party was not 
to begin until half-past four. 

“ Let’s set the table and fix the seats, and have 
everything ready,” suggested Dorothy, who was 
the leading spirit of the two. “ I’ll bring out the 
table and you get the cups and saucers.” 

They put the little table under the arbour, close 
to the entrance where it would be shady in the 
afternoon, and covered it with Mrs. Scott’s best 
fringed tea-cloth, that she let them have only on 
the promise that they would be very careful, and 
not let the dogs put their paws upon it. 


180 


DOGTOWN 


They filled one little jug with flowers and left 
the other empty ready for the cream. 

“This table won’t hold anything but the tea 
things,” said Pinkie, thoughtfully, “we will have 
to put the refweshments somewhere else and pass 
them.” 

“ Here, on the stone wall behind the arbour, is 
a nice place,” said Dorothy, “and no one can see 
the things. Let us play tea-party now, I’ll pour 
the tea and say ‘ cream or lemon, one lump or 
two, please ? ’ And you can say ‘ no tea, thank 
you, I never take anything between meals.’ 
Then I shan’t be ’barrassed ’cause there really 
isn’t any tea.” 

“ Yes, I Avill,” acquiesced Pinkie, readily, “only I 
think first I’ll get Julia Minnehaha and some 
bread and butter ’cause I’m really, truly hungry.” 

Then the two sat down at either end of the table, 
while Hans Sachs and Pluck, believing it to be a 
real party, waited for their share, which proving 
to be only bread crumbs sent them off in a huff. 

Miss Letty came to take luncheon with the two 
mammas and brought a large box of mottoes for 
the party. “They have paper caps in them, I 
know,” whispered Pinkie in delight, “ and we can 
put them on us and the dogs and have a fancy 
dwessed ball.” 



f 









■ I. V '- * - J* ’^'C^ -.i '* ’-^ 

- .'i. , ; A ..i 

•■ ^^ •■-.•itr^v.'-v.v’- v- ‘'^^/''iifc'wS j'ifS 
5 , ^ ■ ■' . ■ ' ' ■; S V \; '-ft '. 





3 


,. .. .'-'^'^ v r^V. > r% 


-r 


bL' 

^ 4 ^ 

■ ' '■■<(**. <«.'■ . 
... '•: ’«]>’ :« 


r^. 


V - . • - ’,?^>5lil ' V 7.~s^ . " Xf^ 

•it ; • ri:* ‘* -M’ AiT;' . -W’" 

• N -J "E^i^ .5 ''^ 1. . *^ • !• 1 ^ '#s ^ * ^Z 

■ ■-. • ■‘v^'j^'^r'l ■'' ' ‘"3 ■ -^ 



"'r ^ ■;' 


m 

®i ’■■ ‘•' •• 

■ . .:.. ■ _iL- '■"■•■ X* -' ■- 

• . '•. f . . .-Ai* .• .‘.i. .-*:,■ 




• ■ 

'S 


> ‘ 




» : 


, f 







One lump or two, please? 



FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


183 


“ Be sure not to forget the basket with a handle 
for Hamlet to play waiter with,” said Miss Letty, 
as she went into the dining room. Pinkie meant 
to get it at once, but she stopped to count the 
mottoes and so forgot all about it. 

* * * ^ * * 

When the mammas started for the Golf Club at 
four the little girls left the piazza where they had 
been told to sit still and keep their dresses clean, 
and took their station upon the gate posts, unseen 
by Miss Letty who was busy in the dining room 
making some sausage sandwiches about two inches 
square, so that each represented a dog mouthful, 
and disputes and untidy eating might be avoided. 

Tommy was the first guest to arrive. He came 
on his wheel and looked very hot and tired, for 
it seemed that Waddles wished to come with 
^ him while Jack Waddles did not. The dispute 
ended in his bringing both, though when Wad- 
dles saw that he was not welcome, he obeyed the 
order “ go home ” as far as going out of the gate 
and disappearing, but before he went he raised his 
nose in the air and gave a long and searching sniff, 
which caused Tommy to say, “Now he knows all 
about the ’freshments.” 

Jack Waddles, Luck, Pluck, and Hans Sachs had 


184 


DOGTOWN 


a fine game of tag round and round the lawn, in 
which Hamlet refused to join, sitting sedate and 
silent on the very step of the porch where his mis- 
tress had left him. 

This behaviour was probably owing to the fact 
that it was the first time that he had worn an or- 
namental collar with a large bow on it since the 
day of his disgrace and clipping, and he did not 
seem quite to know himself, or be sure who he 
really was, like the little old woman in the story 
who had her petticoats “ cut all round about.” 

His closely clipped hind quarters told of freedom 
and the life of his ancestors, who, as everybody 
knows, were one of the most ancient water-dog 
families of France, being wonderful retrievers 
and renowned swimmers. But the clanking collar 
and great bow of wide rose-pink satin ribbon 
tickled the back of his neck and made his head 
feel as if it was tied on. It also reminded him 
of the days in Paris when he went to a dog dancing- 
master to learn to waltz, and to the barber to 
have his wool clipped in as many useless devices 
as the tattoos of a savage, so that he might be 
sold for a great price to be the clown of some lady 
of fashion. Fortunately for him, however, the 
lady who bought him was Miss Betty’s aunt 
Marie. 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


185 



So there he sat and brooded and if Anne had 
been his mistress she would have understood and 
been on the watch for some sort of outbreak. 

Sophie and Charlie Mayhew were the next to 
come. They were heralded by much squeaking 
and creaking of wheels, for Charlie played horse 
and brought his sister in state, sitting in her little 
canopy-top box wagon with dainty Miss Silvie, an 
aristocratic Yorkshire terrier, beside her. Miss Sil- 
vie wore a light blue satin bow, and her silver-blue 
locks had been brushed until they hung in a glis- 
tening fringe. She also seemed depressed by her 


186 


DOGTOWN 


dressed-up condition, refused to give a paw to 
either Pinkie or Dorothy, and crawled on her 
stomach over to the porch, where she gave Hamlet 
an apologetic lick and crouched close beside him, 
the pair looking very much like bored human 
beings at an afternoon function where they were 
perfect strangers. 

“Hurrah! here come Jessie and Jack Lane, 
now the party can begin,” cried Tommy, who had 
climbed a small tree the better to see down the 
road, and up dashed a pony-cart containing a boy 
of nine, a girl of seven, a lovely ruby spaniel, and 
the coloured groom Charles, while behind followed 
a half-grown English setter pup. 

“ Mr. Lane directed me, miss,” said the groom, 
addressing Miss Letty as evidently the one in 
command, “ as how I’d better stay in the ’mediate 
vicinity, miss, in case of trouble or a scrimmage 
between these yere dogs, miss, it being not im- 
probable they might, miss, ’specially ourn. Ruby 
being most polight, miss, but that there Black- 
berry the setter pup, miss, bein’ variegated in his 
disposition, miss, and uncertain where he’ll break 
out, but he would follow.” 

Miss Letty told the man to stay by all means, 
such a possible complication not having occurred 
to her ; so after taking the pony to the stable. 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


187 


he discreetly lost himself in the shadow of the 
near-by shrubbery. 

“Shall we have tea or make the dogs do their 
tricks first ? ” asked Miss Letty, to whom this free 
and easy sort of dog party was a novel affair, 
the only previous one she had attended having 
been at her Aunt Marie’s, upon her own birthday, 
when Hamlet had been presented to her. 

At that party the ten dogs, all poodles, brown, 
white, or black, had a table to themselves, around 
which they sat upon high chairs, with napkins 
about their necks, while they were fed with 
chicken pat^s by the maids of their several own- 
ers, and afterward did their tricks for prizes of 
bonbons. 

Only imagine Dogtown dogs eating bonbons ! 
The very idea made Miss Letty smile, though she 
did not know why candy was a forbidden thing in 
the local dog law, the reason being this. 

Long before, when Waddles was a half-grown 
pup, and Diana was Tommy-Anne, and Obi the 
garden boy. Waddles had one day lingered in the 
grocery store after his mistress had started for 
home. The clerk, either for mischief or because 
he thought the dog might like sweets, threw him 
a generous square of old-fashioned molasses candy 
in its wrapping of oiled paper. 


188 


DOGTOWN 


Waddles at first had played witli it as a toy, not 
thinking it an eatable, knocking it about with his 
paw, and then throwing it into the air. During 
this performance he got a taste of the covering, 
and then holding the bit between his fore paws he 
proceeded to gnaw the paper off. The sweet taste 
pleased him, and he tried to nibble the candy, but 
it resisted his teeth. Being somewhat piqued, he 
did a fatal thing, he opened his mouth wide and 
threw the morsel backward, closing his chewing 
teeth upon it, after the manner of eating refrac- 
tory bones. 

Waddles chewed and chewed, but he could 
neither swallow the candy nor free his jaws from 
it. Sticky juice ran from the corners of his 
mouth, and his eyes began to look wild. He tried 
all the muscular methods of tongue and throat 
known to dogs that wish to uneat undesirable 
things, but to no avail. He tried howling, but 
could not utter a sound, for he was literally tongue- 
tied. 

Suddenly he bolted from the store and tore up 
the road, the clerk following pale and frightened, 
for he feared the dog was choking, and no one 
in the whole village would have hurt a pet of 
Tommy-Anne’s for worlds. Meantime, missing 
Waddles when she reached the house. Tommy- 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


189 


Anne turned back to look for him, and to her ter- 
ror met him coming in the gate, yellow froth on his 
lips, the clerk following, panting and having only 
breath enough to say, “ He — isn’t — mad — it’s 
— molasses candy!” Meantime Waddles had 
cast himself into his mistress’s arms, thereby 
knocking her over, while he rubbed his throat 
frantically in her dress. Anne, always prompt in 
an emergency, called for Obi to come and bring a 
blunt kitchen fork. In a trice the sticky mess 
was pried and twisted off and the dog freed, but 
he never forgot the experience, and later on, when 
as a fully grown dog he was admitted to the coun- 
cil of Dogtown, and made chairman of the com- 
mittee for the revision of laws, he caused the 
eating of candy to be declared ohan^ or a ^^must 
not which rule holds there to this day except 
among the degenerates. 

^ * Mu * 

The children agreed that the tricks had best 
come first, because, as Dorothy said, “ You can't 
tell but what the dogs will run away after they’ve 
got their motto caps on and had their tea.” So 
the children, under Miss Letty’s instruction, drew 
up in line on the lowest step of the long side 
piazza, each having his or her dog in charge. 


190 


DOGTOWN 


Jack Waddles’s only trick was wrestling, but as 
he would not do it except with his mother, now 
that Jill had gone, he was excused, and Pinkie 
stepped forward with Hans, who obediently did 
the routine taught by her elder brother, — made 
a pin wheel of himself, sat up, saluted with his 
right paw, cheered for the Kaiser, and died for 
the Vaterland in so realistic a manner as to 
cause Sophie to shed tears, which, however, she 
soon wiped away, using the top of Silvie’s head 
for a handkerchief. Luck and Pluck were less 
conventional and more animated in their per- 
formance. They played leap-frog beautifully, 
stood and sat erect on their hind legs, and 
caught a handkerchief made into a ball in a 
very graceful way. 

Next Silvie tiptoed forward, and after two 
trials sat up in a most comical and tipsy manner, 
and held a stick as if it was a gun, thereby so 
delighting her dear little roly-poly mistress that 
every one applauded loudly. 

Blackberry the setter, being young and timid, 
was also excused, but when Jessie and Jack Lane, 
who had disappeared for a minute, returned with 
Toodles the spaniel, dressed in a cocked hat, 
Toby frill and sash, and made him tumble about 
like a clown in the circus, finally walking up 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


191 


between them to make his bow while they did 
jig steps, every one cheered. 

Hamlet, of course, was the star performer, but 
then he was more like a professional appearing at 
amateur theatricals. This day he was extremely 
contrary, however, and his mistress had to give 
him two or three scoldings in rapid French, which 
sounded very mysterious to the others. But when 
it came to the dancing he threw himself into the 
spirit of it at once, and waltzed to Miss Letty’s 
whistling until she grew tired. Next he did his 
greatest feat, a sort of sailor’s hornpipe, in which 
he was obliged to stand erect and keep in motion, 
while he jerked his body forward continually as if 
he was pulling in rope. 

This dance came to an abrupt ending because 
the tune which accompanied it struck Jack Wad- 
dles’s musical sensibilities, and caused him to bay 
in comic imitation of his father, thereby setting 
the others off in various keys, and causing such 
pandemonium that the Lanes’ groom rushed from 
the shrubbery, thinking “ the scrimmage ” had 
come. 

Under cover of the noise Pinkie slipped into the 
house at a signal from Miss Letty to tell the 
waitress that it was high time to make the “ real 
tea ” and carry the eatables to the pantry on the 


192 


DOGTOWN 


stone wall behind the arbour. Then she remem- 
bered that she had forgotten to ask her mother 
for a basket for Hamlet’s waiter trick. “ It’s too 
bad,” she muttered to herself behind the pantry 
door. “ Miss Letty says it’s his queerest trick, 
and now it’s all spoiled.” As she looked up, the 
crack of the door gave her a glimpse into the 
dining room, and her eye rested upon the mahog- 
any sideboard at the exact spot where, safe and 
high and out of reach, rested a pair of open-work 
silver cake baskets with hoop handles that had 
belonged to her great-grandmother, and were con- 
sequently much treasured by the family. 

“ The very thing,” she said, dropping her voice 
unconsciously to a whisper, “and a silver basket is 
lots properer than a straw one for a tea-party.” 

It was evident that at this moment Pinkie’s 
guardian angel and her conscience had taken a 
walk together to the farthest end of the garden. 

She pushed one of the big arm-chairs toward 
the sideboard, climbed from the seat to the back, 
secured the nearest of the precious baskets, flew 
to the pantry, emptied a box of five-o’clock teas 
into it, and covering the whole with a napkin, 
ran and placed it on the fence with the cakes 
and sandwiches, then sauntered back to her 
friends with a suspicious air of unconcern. 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


193 


“ It is of no use for us to have our tea until the 
dogs are served,” said Mistress Dorothy, picking 
her words, and speaking in manner and tone in 
perfect imitation of the way that some one of her 
elders might have said, “give the children their 
supper, and then we shall have ours in peace.” 

The sausage sandwiches formed the first course ; 
these were followed wisely by the saucers of 
buttermilk, for sausages are rich, thirsty things, 
and buttermilk both quenches thirst and is 
good for dog stomachs. The cookies were next 
in order, each one making four mouthfuls, though 
Jack Waddles and Silvie both tried to bolt theirs 
whole, and choked so that they had to have their 
saucers refilled. 

“Now let us give them their mottoes,” said 
Pinkie, forgetting the basket for the time. “ Will 
you please snap them and give each one their 
cap. Miss Letty ? ” 

This caused a great deal of fun, for the snap- 
ping affected the dogs very differently, frighten- 
ing some, and merely adding to the spirits of the 
others, while the paper caps changed the dogs’ en- 
tire expressions for the few moments that they con- 
sented to wear them; meanwhile Luck and Pluck, 
seizing on a motto that had been dropped, played 
tug-of-war with it to such good effect that the 


194 


DOGTOWN 


snapper exploded in their very jaws, causing them 
to stampede in terror, while the children rolled 
on the grass in fits of laughter. 

“Now for the basket of five-o’clock teas,” said 
Miss Letty, who saw that the dogs had about reached 
the end of their good behaviour, and the children 
were also growing restive, and needed the soothing 
influence of ice-cream. “ Is it ready. Pinkie ? ” 

Miss Letty then fastened Hamlet’s cap, 
which chanced to be a white Normandy bonnet 
with strings, firmly under his chin, pinned a 
napkin around his waist to imitate a waiter’s 
apron, and made him stand erect. 

“ Here’s the basket,” said Pinkie, coming for- 
ward and thrusting the quaint bit of silver sud- 
denly at Miss Letty. 

“ But, Pinkie dear,” she protested, “ I only 
wished a common straw basket ; this is too good. 
Hamlet may bend or break it.” 

“I couldn’t get anything worse,” answered 
Pinkie, jerking out her words half sulkily, “ any 
way — it’s — only an — old thing — and — mother 
didn’t say I mustn’t take it.” 

“ Yes, but old things are often very precious ; 
yet after all it will only take a moment, and 
I will wrap my handkerchief about the handle 
so that Hamlet’s teeth may not scratch it.” 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


195 


“ Allons ! ” she cried to the patient dog, who 
came slowly forward, took the handle between 
his teeth, and walked dutifully down the line of 
waiting dogs. Each child gave a biscuit to its 
pet, because if the dogs had been allowed to help 
themselves, poor Hamlet would surely have been 
upset, for to walk in such a position, and carry 
a heavy basket, is a great strain ‘for any dog, no 
matter how clever. 

All went well until Hamlet reached the fox 
terriers, when Luck made a spring for the basket. 
This seemed to be a signal of revolt against good 
behaviour, for instantly Hamlet dropped on all 
fours and began careering wildly around, still 
holding the basket. Instantly all the dogs were 
running about in a circle, barking and yelping 
wildly, the little tea table was overturned, and 
cups, saucers, and cookies went rolling down the 
walk together. 

The Lanes’ groom flew out from ambush and 
tried to restore order, or at least to catch his own 
dogs, but Hans Sachs ran between his feet and 
upset him in the midst of the china. 

At first the children had added their shouts to 
the general melee ; but when the table was over- 
turned, Pinkie began to cry, and Ruby having 
growled at Silvie, little Sophie added her tears. For 


196 


DOGTOWN 


a moment poor Miss Letty was completely bewil- 
dered, then she tried to capture Hamlet, who 
was evidently the ringleader ; but Hamlet was 
no longer the polite and obedient house dog. He 
would not even listen, and after circling the lawn 
three or four times, the others following in a line 
like a troop of circus dogs, he led them through 
the open back gate, and across the fields, still 
holding the basket of five-o’clock teas aloft, 
until all disappeared from view like a whirlwind 
in the tall grass — Silvie, blue bow, and all. 

“’Taint no mortial use followin’ on ’em that 
ways, miss,” said the Lanes’ man, making for the 
stable. “ I’ll take the pony and head ’em off by 
the cross-road, or they’ll run to Pine Ridge shore.” 

****** 

“ Now I think we would better eat our ice- 
cream and sponge cake before they come back or 
anything else happens,” said Miss Letty, as she 
and the waitress rearranged the table, and the 
children agreed with her vociferously, that is, all 
but Pinkie. She had her great-grandmother’s 
silver cake basket weighing on her conscience, 
and even ice-cream seemed odious. 

Suddenly Miss Letty realized that Hamlet had 
carried off the basket, and without knowing its 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


197 


value, she spoke of it to the waitress, who 
grew pale with fright when she heard what 
Pinkie had done, saying that the mistress would 
never allow any one even to clean the baskets 
but herself. A man was hastily sent to follow 
the trail of the dogs carefully, and two help- 
ings of ice-cream and unlimited cake and mot- 
toes kept up the spirit of those who had clear 
consciences for more than half an hour, when a 
yelping from the direction of Happy Hall or- 
chard told that the run was over and the run- 
ners returning. 

This time they came in at the gate, Hamlet 
still in the lead, but without the basket. All 
were dripping wet, with water-weeds, and ooze 
clinging to their coats and tails, and Miss Silvie’s 
blue ribbon stringing out behind her was merely 
a long rag. Hamlet had found himself, how- 
ever, he was once more the retrieving water dog 
of old France, and he had led his friends to the 
mill pond and challenged them to a swimming 
match. A water dog he remained, for from that 
day he refused to do his taught tricks, and wore 
his hair only long enough to clothe his skin, 
but he became a more intelligent companion 
than ever. 


198 


DOGTOWN 


Supper time came, and with it the return of 
Pinkie’s mother and aunt, but the cake basket 
could not be found. 

“We will drag the pond for it to-morrow ; it is 
probably as safe from burglars there at the 
bottom as if it was on the sideboard,” said Pinkie’s 
father, who hated a fuss. But then it was not his 
grandmother’s basket. 

“ What would dear grandma have said to this?” 
asked Pinkie’s mother of her sister. The idea 
was too appalling to admit of an answer, for 
Pinkie’s great-grandmother belonged to that par- 
ticular puritanic time when children though seen 
were said to have never been heard, and dogs? 
Well, dogs were merely four-legged brutes, who 
were fed upon what nothing else would eat. One 
custom of the far-away period, however, happened 
to Pinkie that night — she was spanked. 

* * * * * 

Waddles, on returning from escorting Tommy 
to the party that afternoon, threw’ himself down 
under the lilac bushes for a nap. He was in a 
huff, as during his brief stay at Pinkie’s his keen 
nose had scented the presence of the five-o’clock 
tea biscuits, which his heart craved. No one had 
asked him to stay or given him a biscuit, and he 


FIVE-O’CLOCK TEAS 


199 


felt himself insulted both in his private capacity 
and as Mayor of Dogtown. 

Toward sunset he awoke with a yawn ; it 
was past the time to go for the cows, he had 
slept and missed a trick for once. Suddenly a 
howling and baying caused him to prick up his 
ears, and at the same moment the procession 
of dogs cut cornerwise from the orchard across 
the garden and away toward the woods and 
pond. 

Waddles started to follow them, but as he had 
nearly reached the corner of the wall something 
glittering caught his eye, and a beloved smell 
seized on his nose at the same time. There at 
the edge of the cobbled gutter lying on its side 
was the precious cake basket with fully half of the 
box of five-o’clock teas beside it on the ground. 




200 


DOGTOWN 


Waddles’s eyes glistened. He sniffed with long 
sniffs of enjoyment, he licked his lips, and look- 
ing round cautiously from time to time ate up 
every biscuit and every crumb, then walked 
slowly off, head erect, and tail held gaily as 
much as to say, “ Some poor dogs have to go 
to parties, others have the party brought to 
them.” 

* * ^ ^ * 

The next morning when Anne went out early 
to gather flowers for the breakfast table, she 
found the silver basket still lying on its side. 
Picking it up joyfully, for every one now knew 
of its loss, and finding that it was unharmed, 
she sent it at once to its owner. Waddles, who 
was with her, gave no sign of recognition, but 
tiptoed steadily along on the other side of the 
walk. 

“ I wonder which dog ate the five-o’clock 
teas ? ” said Anne to herself. “ They were scat- 
tered through the fields, most likely.” 

Only Waddles and Hamlet could answer this 
question, and — there is honour among dogs. Anne 
noticed, however, that from the day of the party 
Hamlet became an esteemed member of the Dog- 
town council — such is political influence ! 



CHAPTER VIII 

A HEN PARTY 

One day a letter came to Miss Letty from her 
Aunt Marie in France, asking if she was home- 
sick, and if she did not wish to come back and 
go to Switzerland with them, “ for,” the letter 
translated said, “it will not be long, at most, 
before you will rejoin us. My gay little one 
could never remain in that strange country of 
wild dogs when the winter comes, she would be 
desolate for Paris. That word will not now 
mean the black dress, plain fare, and high brick 
wall of the school ; but the opera, fetes, bonbons, 
enchanting costumes, and a handsome husband, 
201 


202 


DOGTOWN 


for your uncle has already in thought two suit- 
able alliances between which we are willing you 
should yourself choose. If, however, you re- 
main still longer with the incomprehensible 
Aunt Julie, be careful, my angel, of your com- 
plexion, and never go out without the heavy 
brown veil above the white one, for I am told 
that the sun in America is most cruelly piercing. 

“ One word as to the beloved poodle, Hamlet. 
See that his coat is well oiled and preserved, and 
that he does not play with strange dogs or walk 
out in the morning before the dew has dried, and 
then only in the shade and with caution, for we 
intend to exhibit him at the Xmas fete that 
Madame de B is to hold to benefit the hos- 

pice for sick dogs. He shall do his tricks under 
your teaching and you two will have a success 
superb.” 

Anne was sitting in the window of Miss Letty’s 
pretty room when the letter was brought, and 
she wondered why her friend grew so pale as she 
read it, and when she suddenly threw herself, face 
down, on the pretty white bed and began to sob, 
Anne, thoroughly frightened, for Miss Letty was 
always gay and smiling, put her arms around her, 
and begged to know if her aunt was sick. 

“ No, read it, it’s about going home ; just when 


A HEN PARTY 


203 


I had almost forgotten that I had ever lived any- 
where but here — it’s too bad — read it,” and she 
thrust the crumpled letter at Anne, burying her 
head in the pillow again. 

Anne read it through very slowly, and then, as 
a bark from below caused her to look out of the 
window, she began to laugh so heartily that Miss 
Letty looked up, surprised at her lack of sym- 
pathy. 

“I can’t help it,” Anne gasped, as she took 
another peep out of the window. “ If your Aunt 
Marie could only see Hamlet, all shaven and 
shorn, digging out a mole with Quick and Tip, 
and looking like an anyhow dog. I’m sure she 
wouldn’t expect him to go to the show. 

“ Then, of course, she doesn’t know that you 
gave Tommy your two brown veils to make a 
butterfly net, and that you are — well — rather 
tanned. 

“ But,” continued Anne, suddenly growing sober, 
“ of course you will be married some day ; but surely 
it will not be to somebody you’ve never seen. It 
would be very nice to go to Switzerland, though. 
Oh, Miss Letty, are you really thinking of going, 
and does it make you sorry to leave us and the 
dogs — and everything ? Miss J ule said that per- 
haps you might like it here well enough to stay with 


204 


DOGTOWN 


her always, though it was almost too much to ex- 
pect, and Mr. Hugh said that it most certainly 
was; yet I could not help hoping.” 

Then two heads were buried in the same pillow, 
and fifteen and eighteen seemed, as often happened, 
to be about the same age. 

“I can stay here if I wish. Father said that 
I could choose when I had tried this country for 
six months, but I think I’m crying because Aunt 
Marie hurries me so, before I’ve even thought of 
going. If only — hien^ there are several ifs, Diane 
darling, that you do not understand. Why do 
you say of course I will marry some day ? ” asked 
Miss Letty, raising her head on one hand to peep 
out of the window at Hamlet, who was giving his 
“ Vive la Republique” barking song. 

“ Why ? Why, because I think it is so much 
.nicer than not being ; that is, when one has no 
mother to leave and is grown up and has to wear 
their hair up and their dresses down. There is 
mother, now, do you think that she could possibly 
be as happy without father and us ? Of course 1 
shall not marry, because I couldn’t leave her, but 
that is different,” said Anne, in a tone of deep 
conviction. 

“Aunt Julie has never married, and I am sure 
that she is perfectly happy and free. No, I shall 


A HEN PARTY 


205 


be independent like Aunt Julie and keep horses 
and dogs.” 

“ Miss J ule is happy and lovely to everybody, 
but I know that she is often lonely, and as to being 
independent, as you call it, it was not her plan 
at all. He died, and he was Mr. Hugh’s oldest 
brother, ever so much older of course than Mr. 
Hugh. Mother told us about it once after Tommy 
asked Miss Jule why she was not married and 
lived up there all alone when she doesn’t like thun- 
der, because mother always sits in father’s study 
and holds his hand when the big storms come; 
not that she’s afraid, oh, no, but you see she’d 
rather — That’s why, because of his brother (be- 
side both liking dogs), Mr. Hugh is so nice to 
Miss Jule, exactly the same as if she really was his 
aunt,” and Anne stopped, quite out of breath ; 
but as Miss Letty had dried her eyes and looked 
interested, she continued : — 

“ Dogs sometimes have a great deal to do with 
people’s marrying each other, that is, I mean begin- 
ning it. You see, one day, ever so long ago, father 
was in New York, and as he was going along the 
street he heard a dog yelp and cry dreadfully, and 
then a crowd collected. When he got near by he 
heard some one say, ‘It’s been run over but, it is only 
a cur, a policeman’ll soon come along and end it.’ 


206 


DOGTOWN 


“ Then the people went away, all but one young 
lady, and in the gutter he saw a little terrier lying ; 
its front leg was broken, and though it was partly 
stunned, its eyes were full of pain and terror. 
Before he could reach the dog the lady had gone 
to it, tied her handkerchief around the hurt paw, 
and lifting it up very gently, and in spite of its 
being bloody and dirty, carried it away. When 
she had gone a little distance down a side street 
she stopped and hesitated. Then father overtook 
her and asked if he might help with the dog. 
She said that she had just remembered that she 
did not live in the city, and that as they would not 
let her carry the dog on the street cars, she was 
wondering how she could get it home. 

“ Father said that he would gladly carry it to the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Hospital, and so, 
without even thinking they had never been intro- 
duced, they walked along together, and the poor 
little dog stopped moaning and licked father’s 
hand. When they got to the hospital the people 
said that they would chloroform the dog dead, or if 
it was a pet they could cure it, for they thought it 
must be a pet, otherwise two nicely dressed people 
would not be likely to get themselves all smeared 
up to bring it to the hospital. Of course it wasn’t 
a pet, only a yellow brown, wire-haired terrier with 


A HEN PARTY 


207 


back legs that didn’t exactly match the front. 
The lady was going to say ‘chloroform him,’ 
when he struggled up on three legs and licked her 
nose, so she changed the words to ‘cure him if 
you can, and I will pay,’ and she told her name 
and address. 

“ Then father found that she was the sister of 
one of his college chums, and so you see by 
and by they were married. She turned out to 
be mother, and we had that terrier for ever so 
long, though he always had one bent paw and 
limped. Father christened him Accident, and we 
called him Axy for short. And when he grew old 
and died, Ave began the dog cemetery beyond the 
orchard with him, and after that father bought 
Waddles for me.” 

Anne told the story almost as if she was read- 
ing it from a book, for it was A^ery real to her, 
and both she and Tommy were never tired of 
hearing their father repeat it. 

She had barely ended when the door flew open 
and in bounced Quick, Tip, and Hamlet, folloAved 
by Miss Jule. With a rush and Avhirl the dogs 
pounced upon Miss Letty, and began to dig her 
out from among the pilloAvs as if she had been a 
rabbit in its burrow, Avhile Anne vainly tried to 
call them ofl; and rescue the snoAvy bedspread. 


208 


DOGTOWN 


Miss Jule looked from one to the other with a 
question in her eyes as she saw her niece’s flushed 
face, but she received her answer when she read 
the letter that Letty handed her. She put it back 
in its envelope, saying dryly : “ I claim you until 
the six months are up, after that we shall see. 
Meanwhile Mr. Hugh has asked you all to go 
to-morrow and picnic on the new land he has 
bought that lies between the river and Pine 
Ridge. 

“ His cousins, the Willoughby girls, are staying 
with him ; but as their mother is an invalid, I am 
to keep you out of mischief and see that you do 
not get lost. I will take the brake with the 
luncheon, and you can either drive all the way 
or take your wheels and alternately drive with me 
or ride them.” So Anne went home to prepare for 
the next day and appease Tommy, who would be 
broken-hearted to hear that his White Lady was 
going to a picnic without him, while Miss Letty 
seated herself at the desk by her window to 
answer her letter, and this is the English of what 
she wrote : — 

“ Dear Aunt Marie : My Aunt Julie makes 
it a point that I remain with her the six months 
for which I came. But believe me, I am very 


A HEN PARTY 


209 


well amused, even though I have no companions 
but Diane and the little Tommy, for this place is 
much more unusual than even Paris. The dogs 
are not wild, as you think, but most polite, with 
delightful manners. Two have now come to call 
upon Hamlet, and as I write are conversing with 
him below the window. He is well, but his 
costume is so altered that you would hardly know 
him. I also no longer wear a veil, it not being 
the custom here, neither is it to have an uncle 
choose one’s husband in advance of one’s wish to 
marry. I decidedly prefer all American customs 
in such matters. It is glorious summer now. Do 
not let us speak of winter, dear aunt, until the 
frost has browned the leaves at least. 

“Your afPec. niece 

“ Lettice.” 

As she sealed the envelope she heard a horse 
galloping down the road, but why she smiled as 
she looked out the window, or felt somehow 
deceitful about the letter she had written, she 
could not have told. Perhaps it was because 
Hamlet was standing on his head and doing some 
of his old tricks, all the while looking very wise, 
and as if he knew that he was surprising Tip, 
who always tried to imitate him. 


210 


DOGTOWN 


The next morning was cool and delightful, but 
one of the sort of days that is not to be trusted 
at Woodlands, when it comes in early August ; 
for it may grow very sultry at noon, thunder- 
clouds following the change, or the wind may 
turn to the east, and bring a cold storm with the 
incoming tide. 

However, everything promised well when the 
long brake, with its four horses, a clothes-basket 
of good things, and Miss Jule and Letty, called 
for Anne. 

When they arrived at Mr. Hugh’s home, they 
met a disappointment. The Willoughby girls 
were waiting, armed with sketch-books, plant 
boxes, and fishing-poles, but no Mr. Hugh. He 
had been called to town on business, but hoped 
to be back in time to join them at luncheon, 
and they were to do everything as he had first 
planned — fish for bass in the big pond, shoot at 
a target that he had arranged for his own use 
in the long meadow, and cook their luncheon 
gypsy fashion. 

“Nevermind,” said Miss Jule, “this is a hen 
picnic ; but when 1 was a girl we seldom had any 
other kind hereabouts, and yet we always had 
plenty of fun. I think that you girls had better 
ride your wheels until we come to the long hill, 


A HEN PARTY 


211 


or else pack them into the other wagon ; for with 
all these fishing-rods and things the brake will be 
full.” 

The dogs had to be tied up and stay at home ; 
for taking dogs who love to swim on a fishing 
excursion is a “mustn’t be.” 

Mr. Hugh’s new land was a strip of several 
hundred acres of wild meadows, bordered by thick 
woods that joined his farm and followed the river 
quite to the Pine Ridge waterfall. 

It had once been a farm ; for in open places the 
hummocks under the rough grass told where corn- 
fields had been. There were two tumble-down 
orchards (one of early and one of late apples), 
while raspberry vines, a ruined chimney, and 
tufts, here and there, of old-fashioned flowers told 
of a home that had gone. 

The woods that bordered the river were very 
wild and fascinating, deep shade being made by 
oaks, beeches, and giant hemlocks. No trees had 
been cut for many years, though the dead wood 
had evidently been carefully cleared away. 

There were great rocks covered with ferns that 
sloped to the river edge, where the water had 
whirled stone within stone and worn “ pot-holes ” 
and carved many strange devices. 

The Willoughby girls were in ecstasies, for 


212 


DOGTOWN 


most of their summers had been spent by the 
sea. Elsa, the eldest, soon chose a bit for a 
sketch; Martica, who was a junior at Vassar, 
discovered material for a thesis on ferns ; Louise, 
the youngest, set about picking delicious looking 
blackberries, that though now growing wild must 
have been the grandchildren of the fruit of the 
old garden. Thus it came to be that Miss Jule, 
Letty, Anne, and May Willoughby formed the 
fishing party; for no one cared to shoot at a 
target without Mr. Hugh to keep score and 
praise or criticise their shots. 

The pond was a little way up the stream, from 
which it was separated by a sloping stone dam 
that extended like a wall for fifty feet around the 
north side, and being overhung with trees made 
a fine place from which to fish. 

The hooks were baited and dropped in the 
water, and then Anne began to look about as if 
to locate herself, saying : “ I thought I knew 
every bit of woods within miles of home, but I’ve 
never been on this side of the river just here. 
When Obi was our garden boy he and I used to 
go a great deal to the old mill on the other side 
of the pond where the wood-ducks nested ; but 
once when we came across the dam, close by 
where we are now, and dug some wild sarsa- 


A HEN PARTY 


213 


parilla, an old woman with a crutch came out 
of the trees and chased us away. 

“ Obi said that she was called the Herb Witch, 
and that she lived in a hut somewhere in the 
woods, and gathered weeds and things, that she 
sold to make magic medicines, and that we had 
better not cross her, because she could poison 
people by even breathing at them. 

“ Of course I didn’t believe that; but she cer- 
tainly looked rather weird, standing there among 
the trees wearing a cloak with a pointed hood, such 
as witches always wear in story-books, with her 
skirt, that was gathered into a sort of bag in 
front, full of roots and herbs. 

“ Do you know. Miss Jule, of whom Mr. Hugh 
bought this land ? Somehow, I didn’t think that 
it belonged to anybody.” 

“ He bought it from the town,” answered Miss 
Jule, slowly. She was watching her line with 
interest, for the bobber would now and then give 
a dive and then whirl about. 

“ Years ago the place belonged to a farmer, a 
Scotchman of the thrifty old stock who could 
make a living anywhere ; and I’ve heard my 
father say that it was a fine old farm, and yielded 
a good income when the town had only two 
market days a week — W ednesday and Saturday 


214 


DOGTOWN 


— and depended upon the produce from the 
neighbourhood. When this farmer died, his son, 
who was a sailor, came ashore, married a pretty 
cousin from over seas against her people’s wish, 
and tried to work the farm. But he was a born 
rover, and the easy days for farming among these 
rocky hills had passed. In a few years he went 
to sea once more, and was never heard of again. 
Then his wife struggled along with her little 
boy, and for some time made a fair living from 
selling milk and poultry, renting pasture, work- 
ing the fields on shares, and such like, hoping to 
keep things together until her boy could take 
charge. Of course he was lonely, and as he 
grew up craved companionship, and finally went 
off, I think to a cousin who did something in 
Australia. 

“ The mother stayed on alone, and for a while 
seemed to do well. I fancy the son sent her 
money. But the old house burned down, and she 
grew more and more crabbed, and of late years has 
had nothing to do with her neighbours, and would 
let no one into her house, she having moved into a 
small cottage on the north road when the farm- 
house was burned. Different people have tried 
to help her ; but she is proud and unmanageable, 
they say. The town finally took the farm for 


A HEN PARTY 


215 


unpaid taxes and — ah ! I’ve lost that fish, and 
it was a good one, too,” ejaculated Miss Jule, 
stopping her story as the line tautened and hung 
loose again. “ One thing, I’m quite sure by the 
way the small fish dodge about that there are 
some big pickerel here that keep them moving, 
and we shall not catch any pan fish for luncheon.” 

“But, Miss Jule, what became of the old woman 
when her land was sold, and why did they call 
her a witch ? ” asked Anne, who was much in- 
terested. 

“ She will be taken care of at the town farm, 
and it’s not such a bad place, either. As to the 
name of Herb Witch, I think people gave it to her 
because she puzzled them by going about the 
woods at all times of day and night and gathering 
plants they thought only weeds. Then she always 
minded her own business, and never complained, 
which always aggravates people who do not do 
likewise.” 

“ How dreadful to be old and have to leave 
home and go and live in a poorhouse, when you’ve 
owned all this! ” said Anne, stretching out her 
arms, and Miss Letty, looking up, suddenly saw a 
big tear roll off the end of Anne’s nose ; for to her 
home was heaven, and the thought of any one’s 
being driven from theirs seemed unbearable. 


216 


DOGTOWN 


At that minute Miss Jule, with a flop, jumped 
quickly back from the edge of the pond, landing 
in some alder bushes, and with finger to her lips 
as a sign for silence, pointed to an object in the 
water. It was a monster pickerel, the dreaded 
ogre for whom all little bass, perch, and trout are 
taught to “watch out” as soon as they know 
enough to wiggle their tails and swim. Lazily it 
nosed along in the deep shadows, all unconscious 
of the excitement it was causing on shore. 

“ I wish I could grasp it, ” whispered Miss 
Letty, the sporting spirit seizing her. 

“ Yes, and perhaps lose your fingers ; Obi nearly 
did once,” said Anne. 

“ Bring me the little rifle from the brake. It’s 
not the right way to catch fish, but I’ll make an 
exception for this old cannibal,” said Miss Jule, 
while Anne needed no second telling, darted off 
and was quickly back again. 

The rifle, a repeater, was soon in her hands, and 
as Miss Jule loaded it, she told the girls to stand 
back, and asked Anne to put the landing net they 
had brought for the bass that did not bite, close 
beside her. The pickerel crossed the sun streak 
once more. Bang! only one shot was needed. Miss 
Jule dropped the rifle, seized the net, and a pick- 
erel weighing fully eight pounds lay upon the moss. 


A HEN PARTY 


217 


The other girls came up upon hearing the noise, 
and the men who had charge of the horses, all 
being surprised at the size of the fish. 

“We will have it for luncheon, if Martin will 
clean it for us. I only hope that Mr. Hugh will 
come in time to enjoy it,” said Miss Jule. 

Martin was one of Bald3^’s brothers ; and he 
not only cleaned the fish nicely, but cutting it in 
quarters, spread it open for broiling with a clever 
arrangement of sweet birch twigs, and also made 
a grill between two rocks, filling it with charcoal, 
a bag of which he had brought for the gypsy fire 
Mr. Hugh had promised to build. 

“ Cousin Hugh says that he is going to put up 
some sort of a little lodge on this new land, with 
a big fireplace, so that people can come here and 
have tea, and see the birds and things, even in 
winter; and in summer it will be convenient to 
have it to go into if showers come up. He said, 
too, that he would have some one live in it to be 
a sort of game-keeper and prevent pot-hunters 
from killing the birds.” 

“How lovely!” sighed Anne. “Won’t it be 
simply perfect. Miss Letty ? ” 

“ I shall probably be in France by the time it is 
built,” she replied; for one of her contrary fits had 
been hovering over Miss Letty all day. 


218 


DOGTOWN 


The cool morning disappeared in a sultry noon. 
They waited dinner as long as their hunger made 
it possible, but Mr. Hugh did not come. Then, 
as is usual at picnics, outdoors and dinner com- 
bined to bring sleep. Not that any one travelled all 
the way to dreamland, but they all sat about in 
blissful silence, watching the shadows among the 
trees and the silent molting birds flit shyly in and 
out, for only the locusts serenaded them. August 
is the voiceless summer month in the woods ; the 
spring song is over, and the young of the year are 
not yet trying their throats, as they do in autumn. 

“ Four o’clock ! ” said Miss Jule, sitting up sud- 
denly, and giving her ticking-covered hay pillow a 
vigorous punch — Miss J ule always had a dozen of 
such for piazza, hammock, and excursion purposes. 
“ I think we had better make a start ; for if I’m 
not mistaken, there are what Martin calls “ dunder- 
heads ” in the west, and we do not wish to end 
the day by running all the seven miles home, to 
escape a wetting.” 

When the wagons were loaded, and they all 
gathered in the open preparatory to starting, the 
wind had veered, and the black clouds were hurry- 
ing off toward salt water again. 

“ Do you think we might ride our wheels home ? ” 
said Anne to Miss Jule. “ See, the road is shady 


A HEN PARTY 


219 


for a mile farther up, and then it loops around the 
Ridge to the turnpike, and it is down grade all the 
rest of the way.” 

“Yes; please do let us ride,” said Elsa Wil- 
loughby ; “ for I sat so long on that rock sketching 
that I need stretching all over.” 

Miss Jule thought a minute, looked at the sky, 
and said : “ The shower has gone round. It’s a 
lonely road, to be sure ; but with six of you to- 
gether no harm can happen, and even if you loiter, 
you will be at home before supper time.” So the 
brake and Miss Jule started off one way and the 
girls on their wheels the other. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE HERB WITCH 

Miles are always longer when you travel them 
than when you talk of them. For this reason, as 
well as for the fact -that Anne had miscalculated 
the distance, the up-grade road to Pine Ridge 
seemed endless. 

When they had travelled less than half the way, 
Anne’s cyclometer said two miles, and Miss Letty’s 
wheel began to bump and act badly. She stopped 
to find the cause, thinking that the front tire needed 
blowing up; but to her dismay she found that it was 
hopelessly punctured by a bent horse-shoe nail I 
220 



THE HERB WITCH 


221 


Anne tried to mend it with some plaster from 
her tool kit ; but it was old, dry, and would not 
stick. If they turned back, the road home would 
be even longer than to keep on ; so, after a long 
consultation, held under a sign-post that offered 
no consolation, as the bridge on the cross-road 
to which it pointed was known to be up, they 
agreed that there w’as nothing to be done but to 
keep on and lead the wheel, Elsa Willoughby and 
Anne offering to walk to bear Miss Letty com- 
pany; the others to ride ahead and explain the 
delay. 

“ Such a stupid accident ! ” said Miss Letty, who 
felt very badly at upsetting the plan of a swift 
down-hill ride home, even though she was in no 
way to blame. 

“ I’ll tell you what we can do,” said Anne, 
brightening up, as the party was about to divide. 
“Instead of going up around the Ridge to the 
turnpike, we can cut straight across the fields. 
There is a little blacksmith’s shop at the mill 
corner where they do all sorts of tinkering for 
the farmers that go by to town, and I’m positive 
I’ve seen a sign ‘Bicycles repaired’ on the tree. 
There are bars that we can let down in crossing 
lots and that dead tree back on the hilltop will 
do for a guide-post, for I saw it from the other 


222 


DOGTOWN 


side this morning as we came up. Then it stood 
about halfway between the roads.” 

This seemed the most sensible thing to do ; and 
though of course the country was strange both 
to Miss Letty and the Willoughbys, they had 
entire confidence in Anne. So the bars were 
dropped, and the party trooped through and 
crossed the field diagonally, keeping the dead tree 
on the hilltop well in front of them. 

“ I don’t see any bars in that fence yonder, but 
it’s old and tumble-down, and we can easily lift 
the wheels over,” said Anne, who was beginning to 
feel the responsibility of what she had undertaken. 

When they reached the fence, however, a new 
difficulty presented itself — the old rails and posts 
were meshed in and out with barbed wire, rusty, 
and formidable as the quills of an angry porcu- 
pine. 

“ It is certain that we can neither crawl over, 
under, or through that,” said Elsa Willoughby, 
speaking decidedly, and evidently feeling rather 
bored. 

We must follow the fence south,” said Anne, 
cheerfully ; “it ends somewhere, you know.” 

For ten or fifteen minutes they went on with- 
out speaking. It is not easy to walk through 
uneven, briery fields, much less to lead bicycles. 


THE HERB WITCH 


223 


“ The dead tree is behind us, now,” said Miss 
Letty, stopping suddenly ; “ and ought we not to 
come to the river? We must cross it before we 
reach the turnpike.” 

“ I wonder if there is any bridge here in the 
fields where there is no road?” said Martica, 
rather sarcastically. 

“ Oh, look at those black clouds ! ” cried Louise, 
“ They have whirled about and are coming directly 
toward us.” 

Then for the first time Anne realized that not 
only was she uncertain of her wdiereabouts, but 
that they were likely to be overtaken by the fury 
of a summer storm ; for the clouds were followed 
by a yellow underscud whose meaning she well 
understood. 

“ At most we can only get a wetting,” said 
Miss Letty, putting her arm around Anne ; her 
sunny disposition conquering her feeling of alarm, 
when she saw her friend’s distress. “ I’m sure 
that I heard a dog bark, too ; and if there is a dog 
near by, there must be a house.” 

“ Here is the end of the barbed wire fence,” 
called Anne, who had been hurrying ahead ; “ and 
a pent lane leads from it. As this is the inside 
end, if we follow it, we must get somewhere ; for 
there are ever so many roads like these that run 


224 


BOGTOWN 


from the turnpike into back lots and woodlands. 
I think we would all better keep in the middle 
of the lane away from the trees,” she added, as a 
flash of lightning almost dazzled lier. “Father 
says it is always best to keep in the open if you 
are out in a storm.” 

“ Do you know where you are going, or are we 
lost?” asked Elsa Willoughby, shortly. 

“ If we had kept on the road. Miss J ule would 
find us, for she will surely send back for us when 
she sees the storm coming ; but here no one will 
know where we are,” said Martica, wrenching 
herself free from a strong catbrier vine. 

“ I’m trying to go toward the turnpike,” replied 
Anne, in a shaking voice, “but — ” Before she 
could finish they heard the bark again, this time 
close ahead ; but it had a tired, discouraged sound, 
and was not at all aggressive. 

“I see him,” said Miss Letty, joyfully; “it’s a 
collie, too. There must be a farm somewhere 
near.” 

As they reached the dog it stopped its feeble 
barking, but did not move. 

“ Don’t go near him, he may bite,” cried Louise ; 
and the four Willoughbys huddled close to a big 
chestnut tree in spite of Anne’s warning. 

“ Something is the matter with that dog. I won- 


THE HERB WITCH 


225 


der what it can be,” said Anne, half to herself, as 
she walked slowly up to him, talking familiarly as 
she would to Waddles or any friendly fourfoot. 
Miss Letty following her closely. 

“ I see ! One hind foot is caught in a fox trap, 
and — yes, he has broken the chain and tried to 
get away, only to have it caught on a stump again, 
and he is weak with hunger. Poor fellow, we 
will take the trap off, and perhaps you will be so 
good as to take us home with you.” 

“ Poor fellow,” seemed to have a bad opinion 
of people, and to doubt their intentions; for he 
drew back his upper lip, showing his teeth, and 
then seeming to be utterly exhausted, sank down 
upon the ground with a pitiful whine. 

“ I will hold his collar if you can unsnap the 
trap,” said Anne, turning a white, determined face 
to Miss Letty ; while the others protested that if 
he was freed, they should all be bitten. 

“ Push down the spring and put your foot on 
the grip crosswise,” continued Anne, “ and I will 
pull out the paw. What if poor little Jill was 
caught this way and starved to death.” 

Miss Letty made two efforts before she suc- 
ceeded. Fortunately the bone was not broken, 
though the flesh was cut and bruised. As the 
collie gave a sigh of relief, Anne ventured to rub 

Q 


226 


DOGTOWN 


the paw gently with the tips of her fingers, to start 
the blood in circulation again. This eased the poor 
animal so much that he licked her fingers, and, 
scrambling to his feet, began to limp painfully 
away down the lane. . 

“ Stack your wheels under that chestnut tree,” 
said Anne, in a tone of command that gave the 
others courage, “ and we will follow this dog. W e 
can easily send for the wheels, and no one will steal 
them here.” 

The lane soon became wider and more open, 
which was encouraging; but this also gave them 
a better view of the lurid sky, and did not show 
the stream that they must cross before they 
reached the highroad. 

“ There is a hen and some chickens under that 
shed and where these are there are usually 
people near,” said Miss Letty, peering over the 
vine-tangled wall. 

“ There is a house,” cried Anne, at the very 
moment that the squall struck the bushes beyond 
and launched a shower of raindrops so squarely 
in her eyes that she was blinded for a moment. 

A house it surely was, and doubtless at one 
time substantial, but now scarcely more than 
a house in name; for the tops of the tall 
chimney were crumbling, half the window-panes 


THE HERB WITCH 


227 


were broken, and one side sash was wholly 
missing. 

Still the jumble of red day-lilies, bluebells, and 
trumpet-vine in the pathless garden made it look 
cheerful, and 
any shelter was 
welcome. 

“We must 
have been going 
round in a cir- 
cle,” said Anne, 
as she fumbled 
with a rusty 
iron hoop that 
held the gate 
fast. “The 
dead tree is in 
front again, and 
this must be 
the old house that the Herb Witch lived in before 
she went to the town farm.” 

As Anne opened the gate, the collie, who for 
the moment had been forgotten, slipped past, and 
hobbling across the yard scratched at the side 
door. 

“ There must be some one living here, then,” 
said Anne, and following the dog she knocked 




228 


DOGTOWN 



twice, briskly. There was no answer, though she 
was sure that she heard footsteps, and a light 
puff of smoke from the least tumble-down chim- 
ney told that the house was inhabited. 

Anne began to feel very uncomfortable, and 
Elsa Willoughby whispered, “Suppose this is a 
tramp’s camp ? ” A perfectly natural remark, but 
one that was not comforting. 

The collie scratched again, and then gave two 
sharp barks. Instantly there was a quick tapping 
sound inside, as of a stick on the floor, the door 
opened in with a bang, a weak hinge giving way 
at the pull, while a gaunt female figure leaning on 


THE HERB WITCH 


229 


a crutch clasped the dog in her arms, hugging him 
and crying: “My laddie, my laddie, and I thought 
they had taken ye, when ye stayed agone three 
nights, and when I heard the shot this noon I 
thought they had killed ye certy.” — It was the 
Herb Witch herself ! 

¥ * * 

A flash and crash followed by a gust of rain 
made Anne step forward, and as quickly as pos- 
sible ask for shelter. When the woman saw the 
party, her face grew rigid again and, for a mo- 
ment, it seemed as if she would close the door; 
then she changed her mind, and opening it as 
wide as the broken hinge would allow, said, “ Walk 
in, leddies.” 

The door opened directly into a low, square 
room. At first it was so dark that the girls could 
distinguish nothing, then as their eyes became 
accustomed to the dimness, a few chairs, a table, 
and a small stove set in the wide, open fireplace, 
were outlined. The room was bare and poor, but 
very clean. 

The old woman, after feeding the dog from a 
pot that was on the hearth, returned, and stood 
by the window, the dog behind her, after motion- 
ing her guests to be seated; but she did not speak. 


230 


DOGTOWN 


or ask a question as to from whence they came, or 
whither they were bound. She might have been 
accustomed to have six girls come every day, for 
any surprise she showed. The silence became 
embarrassing, until Anne, partly to break it, and 
partly because the chairs fell short, sat down on 
the floor by the collie, and began to talk to him, 
and through him to his mistress, in her coaxing 
way that no one could withstand. 

“ Tell your missy where we found you, and how 
the wicked trap pinched your foot,” she crooned, 
scratching him under his chin until he rolled over 
on his back with a contentedly foolish expression. 

“ And did yer find him trapped, and loose him, 
little leddie ? I didn’t mind his foot was hurt, 
my eyes are so poor and farsome.” Her speech 
was fascinating, Avholly unlike the harsh countr}'’ 
dialect ; and yet only now and then did she use a 
Scotch phrase. ' 

Thus encouraged, Anne told the story of the 
day’s adventures, punctuated now and then by 
promptings from the others, until she had said 
really more than she intended, and the old woman 
knew that her guests had heard at least one side 
of the tale of her misfortune. 

Then the sight of young faces around her seemed 
to warm her lonely heart and loosen her tongue. 


THE HERB WITCH 


231 


“ Yes,” she said presently, but with no trace of 
complaint in her voice, “ the place was sold a 
month gone to pay the taxes. The same being law 
and justice. I’ll not complain. And I by rights 
would be gone as well, but for Laddie here ; and 
as it is. I’m but a trespasser. 

“ I’d to deal with but the few chicks you saw 
out yonder, a sick pup, and an old cow that pas- 
tures behind on — the Lord forgive me ! — what’s 
mine no longer; when the night before the day 
I was to go yonder,” pointing north to where 
the poor farm lay, “ Laddie, he disappeared. 

“ I’d not paid his tax, and so the law was 
against him. Leastway, the bit I’d saved to pay 
it was made way with by the lad I sent it to the 
town clerk by, and I’d no way to earn more — the 
lameness being too hard for me to pick and peddle 
berries down the turnpike. What with that fear 
before me, and knowing he’d taken a chick a week 
agone from some one, being sore tempted to find 
meat, I was worried in deed and truth. If he’s 
dead, said I, his troubles be over ; but if held in 
bond, and breaking loose he comes home, and me 
away, he’ll just pine away and starve, slow and 
pitiful. 

“ But noo,” she continued, trying to make her 
voice sound cheery, “ he’s come, and to the favour 


232 


DOGTOWN 


of your loosing him I’m minded to ask another. 
As you know dogs’ ways, little leddie, will ye take 
him with ye, and give him his keep his life out ? 
It’ll not be long, for he’s turning ten, and has’na 
had a full stomach these last years. Will ye, 
leddie ? I’m sorrowful not to gi’ him free o’ the 
tax, but it’s the first and last favour Jane Carr 
asks o’ any one. Ye will. God bless you, child ! 
Now to-morrow the old ‘Herb Witch’ will move 
on.” 

It was all Anne could do to keep from breaking 
down and crying aloud. Miss Letty did not even 
try, and Elsa Willoughby wiped her eyes hastily, 
forgetting that she had used her handkerchief that 
morning to cleanse her paint-brushes. So inter- 
ested had they all been that an hour passed unno- 
ticed, and with it the storm. 

“But,” — stammered Anne, trying to steady 
her voice, “ where is the sick puppy ? Don’t you 
want us to take that too ? ” 

“ You’d best take it,certy; but it’s not mine, and 
you may likely seek out the owner, for it’s a well- 
favoured little hussy, and affectionsome, though 
flighty, if I make no mistake. Ten days back 
Laddie came in barking and making signs for me 
to follow, for he has speech, has Laddie, or I 
mistake.” 


THE HERB WITCH 


233 


“ So has Waddles,” said Anne, sympathetically. 

“ W eel, I hobbled down the lane length to where 
the old fence lies that’s bound with that fear- 
some wire.” 

“We know that fence,” said the girls, so com- 
pletely in chorus that a smile actually wrinkled 
the old woman’s features. 

“ A rod farther down Laddie led me, and then 
stood still. Before him was a little animal meshed 
in the wire. I thought it a rabbit; next I saw 
it was a pup that like had been chased by a 
wild cat, — oh, yes, there’s a few here yet, — and 
held by the barbs. I unloosed the pup. Laddie 
a-givin’ me orders all the while.” 

“ Just like Waddles,” ejaculated Anne again. 

“ I took the wee thing home and washed its 
wounds with herbs I well know the worth of, and 
now it hardly shows a scar. I’ve kept it close, 
mostly in the bedroom yonder, for fear those who 
bear me ill might say I stole it, and lay hands on 
it and keep it from its lawful owners, and work me 
worse ill, for it’s as fine a little she beagle as ever 
my eyes lit on, and I’ve seen many in the old 
land.” 

“ Beagle,” said Anne and Miss Letty together, 
as Jane Carr threw open the door of a small room 
which was nearly filled by a large bed with a blue 


234 


DOGTOWN 


and white spread. Upon this bed, with her head 
resting comfortably on the only pillow, lay Jill 
Waddles ! 

Anne fell upon Jill and hugged her, for it was 
a relief to feel that the little creature had not 
starved to death, in spite of her ungrateful behav- 
iour. But Jill merely yawned, jumped down from 
the bed, ambled about prettily with her head on 
one side, but retired under the old woman’s skirt 
when Anne tried to take her up. 

“She has adopted Mrs. Carr,” said Miss Letty, 
laughing, while the old woman stood amazed, say- 
ing, “ Weel, weel, the ways and freaks o’ she ani- 
mals is yet to be accounted.” 

Explanations followed. “You see that I owe 
you two weeks’ board for her,” said Anne, gaily, 
“ and that will pay Laddies’ license, so he will be 
a free gift.” 

“ But she shan’t leave, she shan’t lose the dog,” 
she added, under her breath, to Miss Letty, who 
answered, “ Of course not, if we can only manage 
to keep her here a few days longer to gain time, so 
that we can tell Miss Jule.” 

“I have it,” said Anne, and then turning she 
said : “ Will you kindly stay here until day after 
to-morrow, to please me, Mrs. Carr ? Then father 
and I will drive up in the morning and take Jill 


THE HERB WITCH 


235 


home. I know Mr. Hugh, who has bought the 
land, he’s a very particular friend of mine and 
Waddles’s, and I’ll tell him that I asked you.” 

Mrs. Carr was only too glad of an honourable 
day’s reprieve. Then, as the sun almost at setting, 
shone through the window, Anne opened the door 
and said that they must get their wheels and go 
on, for she had been so excited by what had passed 
that she was now doubly anxious lest those at 
home should worry. 

“Leddies, would ye — ” began Mrs. Carr, hesi- 
tating, “ would ye drink a cup of tea with me 
before ye go? It’ll not take a minute, and it’s 
likely the last time I’ll be offer’n it to company,” 
she added with grim humour. 

Anne accepted the invitation promptly with her 
fine breeding, not giving the Willoughbys a chance 
to demur. A brush fire was burning in the stove, 
and Anne saw by the heap of faggots outside 
how the woods had been kept clear of underbrush. 

The Herb Witch opened a narrow cupboard by 
the chimney and, as she did so, they caught sight 
of a dozen or so bits of old Lowestoft china, a tea- 
pot, cream pitcher, caddy, and half a dozen cups 
and saucers. 

“ How beautiful ! ” exclaimed Martica Wil- 
loughby, who “collected.” “Do you know that 


236 


DOGTOWN 


those are valuable ? Why don’t you sell them ? ” 
she continued indiscreetly. 

Miss Letty declared afterward that the Herb 
Witch suddenly grew so tall that she thought that 
her head would bump against the ceiling, as she 
answered : “ Those same are my self-respect. When 
I’ve been tormented to beg and ask favours, I 
opened that door and looked at the bits that come 
from afar with me, and I minded those I came from, 
and whose will I crossed to my hurt. If ye sell 
your self-respect, leddy, that’s to be the real pau- 
per,” and poor Martica forgot her college-bred 
sufficiency for once, and mumbled an apology. 

Quickly the tea was drawn, only Anne noticing 
that it was the last in the caddy, and the sugar 
the last in the bowl, and Mrs. Carr taking a small 
loaf from a stone jar cut it in thin slices and spread 
them with wild plum jam, from the same closet 
where there still remained a few pots. “ I’m out 
of butter, as it haps,” she said dryly. 

The tea was delicious and every one enjoyed it 
heartily. Anne was standing by the door with a 
second “jamwich,” as she always called the com- 
bination, in her hand when wheels came up the 
lane, a horse stopped suddenly, and a figure sprang 
from the runabout, vaulted over the rickety gate 
that the rain had made still more difficult to open. 


THE HERB WITCH 


237 


and strode up the walk. It was Mr. Hugh, and he 
wore what Anne had always called his “ would- 
like-to-break*something ” expression. 

It flashed through her brain that he was either 
vexed at finding the Herb Witch still in the house, 
or that he blamed her in some way for their deten- 
tion. She never knew exactly why she did it, but 
the moment he reached the door and opened his 
lips to speak she thrust the bit of bread and jam 
between his lips, calling gaily: “You are just in 
time, it’s perfectly delicious, and the very last 
piece, too. Please, Mrs. Carr, do you think that 
you could coax one more cup of tea from that duck 
of a pot? It’s Mr. Hugh, you know, and he’s 
come to look for us.” 

Astonished as he was and gagged with bread 
and jam, Mr. Hugh’s anxiety and anger disap- 
peared at the same moment, for both he and Miss 
Jule, who had driven completely around the cir- 
cuit without finding the party, feared they might 
have tried to cross the river at the disabled bridge 
which had disappeared altogether at the rush of 
the suddenly swollen stream, and his turning into 
the lane at all had been quite an accident. 

Instantly there was a confusion of tongues, and 
poor Mr. Hugh’s brain whirled as he heard the 
words : “ punctured tire,” “across the fields,” “hor- 


238 


DOGTOWN 


rid barbed wire fence,” “ dead tree that kept mov- 
ing,” “ Laddie in trap,” “ license money stolen,” 
“ dear old china,” “ such delicious tea,” “ saved Jill 
Waddles from starving to death,” “ thunder and 
lightning,” “chestnut tree,” etc., each sentence 
coming from a different person. Nor was his 
bewilderment lessened by the sight of the Witch 
herself, leaning on her crutch by the chimney 
closet, dignified and silent, the very reverse of the 
whining beggar, half lunatic, half tramp, that she 
had been represented. 

His first idea was to relieve Miss Jule’s mind 
and get the girls safely home, his second was to 
apologize to Mrs. Carr for his evident misunder- 
standing and abrupt entrance. 

“You can tell me all about it on the way 
home,” he said to the group at large. “ Elsa, your 
mother is nearly frantic about you all ; fortu- 
nately Miss Jule expected to keep Anne at the 
Hill Farm all night, so her mother knows nothing 
about the matter. 

“ The wheels are up under that chestnut ? 
Very well, we will ask Mrs. Carr to keep the 
lame one until it can be called for to-morrow; 
its owner will have to drive with me, and the 
rest ride, at least, as far as the blacksmith’s on 
the turnpike, for it will be dark before I can 



The Herb Witch. 








7w\^ T 50^ 

» ~ 

f ’ 

( • 

« k 

-r, • 

• V 

# ^ 

V.r 


'S 


1 r* 






c- . « . ''-r^ 





.» • 

*> 



• c*'i -.li ■ 

' '**. V 

Af-Fi- ’,.-ri- 

IF' 


"*■ 


■ v^' 

*■ » ♦ • * 

, « — 



w •« 


■I I 

.’ - I 


rf 

• * • > 


V 

• •■<'», • A ■ ir: 


. .. ,' 



t‘ 

k. 


- .‘<iJ. •' ..^■■yr ■• , L,'. V 


.•*»•' V 



., ^ -W ft 5». ' 

. ■’ ’ * V *W€ - f -i -^v 


THE HERB WITCH 


241 


send the horses back here. Whose wheel was 
disabled?” 

“Miss Letty’s,” said Martica Willoughby, “and 
I should think she would be thankful to drive 
home, for it was hard enough for us to lead our 
wheels through all that stubble; but her front tire 
was so flat she almost had to carry hers.” 

Miss Letty got into the runabout without more 
ado, having the tact not to make a fuss, and offer 
to ride Martica’s wheel. Mr. Hugh bowed pleas- 
antly to Mrs. Carr, who came to the gate, drawing 
her cloak about her, — the same one that Anne re- 
membered, — and led the way down the lane, cross- 
ing the river, which was narrow and swift just 
there, a couple of hundred feet west of the house. 

When they reached the highway they held a 
short consultation, and it was agreed the cyclists 
should lead home. As they were about to start 
Anne cried, “ Look ! ” and waved her handker- 
chief toward the rising ground around which the 
lane had curved. There, upon the stubbly hill- 
side, with her crutch before her and Laddie by 
her side, sat Mrs. Carr, watching them on their 
way, her witchlike hood pointing toward the 
sky, but a weary sort of smile upon her wan face, 
while behind her, against the distant horizon, was 
the dead tree still in front of them. 


R 


242 


DOGTOWN 


“ I wish you would have that old tree cut down, 
Mr. Hugh,” laughed Anne over her shoulder, as 
she shot ahead ; “ it’s in the middle of everywhere, 
and like Robin Hood’s barn, you go round and 
round it, but you never get there.” 

* * * ^ * 

Mr. Hugh and his companion drove along for 
a while in silence, then Miss Letty, forgetting her- 
self, said half aloud, “ I wonder what led you into 
that lane ? ” 

“Geese,” said Mr. Hugh, at which astonishing 
remark they both laughed, and the ice began to 
melt as he explained it by saying that as he was 
hurr3dng along the highway, a flock of geese sud- 
denly waddled across the road a few feet ahead 
with much hissing and flapping of wings, whereat 
Artful, his horse, being full of good spirits and 
oats, shied to the right, and made a bolt down the 
lane, which his driver had not even noticed. Be- 
ing once there he recognized it as the north boun- 
dary of his new land, forgot that it did not run 
from road to road, remembered the old house 
which he thought empty, and took the stray 
chance of the girls having taken a short cut. 
“ All of which proves that accidents are sometimes 
lucky things,” he added. 


THE HERB WITCH 


243 


“ I wish my accident might bring some luck to 
Mrs. Carr,” said Miss Letty, simply, and then she 
told the story of the afternoon, her musical voice 
giving it pathos, and as she wholly forgot herself, 
a little foreign accent crept in her speech that 
made it more appealing. 

“ I certainly won’t turn her out, I give you my 
word for that,” said Mr. Hugh, earnestly, “ I’ve 
tried time and again to see her. How can we 
handle her ? Her pride and the old tea caddy will 
not feed and clothe her, and the house is only fit 
for bats.” Mr. Hugh had a warm heart, but he 
was very practical. 

“I could manage the clothes, I think,” said Miss 
Letty, shyly. “ I’ve got plenty of pocket money, 
for there is nothing to buy about here ; the bon- 
bons are atrocious — all made of glue. I could ask 
her to make me jam in exchange. You see she 
makes four kinds from wild fruit, and I adore 
jam.” In some things Letty was younger than 
Anne. 

“ But when you have finished your visit and 
gone back to France, what about her clothes 
then?” persisted Mr. Hugh, not realizing that 
he was teasing her. 

“I forgot,” was all she said, but her head 
drooped, for Miss Letty was warm-hearted, but 


244 


DOGTOWN 


not altogether practical ; but few people are at 
eighteen. 

In a moment, however, she redeemed herself by 
saying suddenly, looking ahead as if speaking of 
something she saw, “ I have it. Miss Elsa said that 
you were going to build a small house somewhere 
on the new land, where you and your friends 
could build a fire in cold weather, and cook supper 
or have afternoon tea, and that you would keep 
a man in it to protect the game.” 

“ Yes, I’m going to build at once, for every bird 
and flower will be killed or carried away if I do 
not take care; but if the land is protected, I am 
more than willing to have the villagers use it for 
their outings, say two days a week in summer 
time.” 

“ The very thing,” continued Letty, growing 
more earnest, “ cut through the lane from road to 
road, and make a new street in Dogtown, then 
put a gate in the middle ; that will be by the Herb 
Witch’s old house. Make the house warm and 
snug, clear out the old garden paths, and then 
use it for a gate-house. Let the game protector 
man live there as company for Mrs. Carr, and 
make her the gate-keeper. In France the gate- 
keepers at many estates are the old women. 
Then such pay as you may give her can be eked 


THE HERB WITCH 


245 


out by allowing her to sell tea and bread, jam 
and cookies to the picnickers, and she can always 
cook your supper when you wish. That kitchen 
with the wide chimney would make a charming 
room. I can see it now with blue and white paper 
and dark furniture. She would be independent 
too, poor soul. Yoii know what Anne said 
about the dead tree and Robin Hood’s barn? 
Bien — let us call the house Robin Hood's Inn^ 
because it sheltered us when we were on the way 
to nowhere.” 

“ Good work,” cried Mr. Hugh, clapping his 
hands so enthusiastically that he nearly dropped 
the reins, and Artful took another skirmish. “ If 
all is satisfactory when I go up there to-morrow 
I will begin work next Monday. Do you know, 
I’m awdully obliged to you. Miss Letty. I’m a slow 
fellow for thinking out things, and two heads are 
better than one, though this idea came from only 
one, and that’s yours. Hullo, where are we 
going ? ” For in their eagerness they had passed 
the Hill Farm and were spinning down hill. 

When they had turned back, Miss Jule met 
them at the gate, saying, “ All’s well that ends 
well; but I was afraid just now that Artful was 
running away.” 

“ Oh, no,” said Mr. Hugh, “ we were having a 


246 


DOGTOWN 


most interesting conversation, and if you will ask 
me in to tea you shall pass upon our scheme.” 

“ I’m sorry you had to ride home with the Great 
Bear,” said Anne, innocently, as they went up- 
stairs to get ready for supper. “ I love to drive 
with Mr. Hugh, he is teaching me the names of 
all the rocks.” 

“ There are bears and bears,” replied Miss Letty, 
smiling to herself in the mirror. “ Also geese that 
make good guide-posts.” 



CHAPTER X 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 

Before flocking swallows and cool nights told 
that September had come in a-tiptoe, the Herb 
Witch’s house had been restored, and christened 
“ Robin Hood’s Inn,” and even the thought of the 
poor-farm banished from the old woman’s mind. 

It had been a very easy matter rearranging the 
house, which had a solid frame ; new floors, 
shingles, window-glass, and pretty wall-papers, 
chosen by Miss Letty and Anne, working a won- 
derful transformation within, while a week’s well- 
directed efforts of a couple of men restored the 
garden to its quaintness without spoiling it. 

Mrs. Carr herself was much more difficult to 
handle, so anxious was she not to accept anything 
for which she could hot render service in return. 
Miss Jule and Mr. Hugh had planned very 
wisely, but, after all, it was Anne herself who 
broke through the crust of pride that held the 
old woman so close in its grip. 

247 


248 


DOGTOWN 


The day after the thunder-storm, when Anne 
had gone with Mr. Hugh to bring Jill home, that 
contrary young beagle had absolutely declined to 
go with her mistress, and, after struggling, bark- 
ing, and growling in puppy rage, slipped her head 
through her collar, jumped from Anne’s arms, and 
ran up and hid in the attic that w’as littered with 
rubbish and drying herbs. 

Such a strong attachment from a capricious 
little animal like Jill argued well for Mrs. Carr’s 
influence over dogs, as did the nicely healed 
wounds made by the barbed wire for her medical 
skill and care, and a new idea came to both Mr. 
Hugh and Miss Jule. They frequently had dogs, 
both young and old, who needed some special 
attention or petting that it was impossible to 
give them in the kennels, or in the little house 
that stood apart and was called the hospital. 
One of the old orchards could be fenced, and a 
small building put in the corner near by Robin 
Hood’s Inn, the whole to be used as a sort of dog’s 
excursion resort, for those who needed a change, 
Mrs. Carr being in charge of it. 

Anne begged leave to tell the news to the old 
woman. At first Mrs. Carr was about to exclaim 
in delight at the prospect of so much dog com- 
panionship, then her habitual distrust seemed 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


249 


about to settle as she said, “ I only hopes it’s for 
their own good and not mine they ha’ planned it ; 
I wish I cauld be main sure.” 

Then at last Anne rose up with almost a stamp 
of impatience, and folding her hands before her, 
looked the questioner straight in the face, saying : 
“Mrs. Carr, I’m disappointed in you, you are just 
as pernickerty as you can be, and stingy beside. 
Perhaps you don’t know what ‘ pernickerty ’ 
means, because it’s one of Baldy’s words for being 
show- off particular, like the woman father tells 
about, who was always so dreadfully good. 
When she went to heaven they gave her an 
extra beautiful gold crown to wear, with a soft 
lining, so that it couldn’t hurt, but she took it off 
and looked it all over, and said, ‘ I can do with a 
cheaper one ; beside, linings are heating ! ’ And 
you are stingy because you won’t let any of us 
have the pleasure of thinking we are making you 
comfortable ; ” so saying, Anne, with a red spot 
in the middle of each cheek, walked out of the 
cottage, mounted Fox, and rode away, without 
looking behind her. 

Miss Jule, who a few moments later drew up 
from the opposite direction expecting to meet Mr. 
Hugh and advise with him about the new scheme, 
was astonished to find that Anne had gone, and to 


250 


DOGTOWN 


see Mrs. Carr crouching in her arm-chair with 
her face in her apron. 

Making no attempt to hide the fact that she 
had been crying, the old lady straightened herself, 
and said in a trembling voice : “ Ye’ll be havin’ no 
more contrairy times with me, yerself and Master 
Hughie, for the little lassie hit out straight and 
fetched me between the eyes like the minister in 
the kirk used, and I see my error, that is, I like 
shall when I’m through blinkin’. Pride is a good 
life-buoy when a body’s drownin’ in the waters o’ 
trouble, but inconvenient and unseemly to wear 
juist for ornament on dry land.” 

Miss Jule asked no questions at the time, but 
the truth leaked out, and Mrs. Carr herself was 
the first to tell the story, laughing as she did so, 
with the dry, harsh laugh that needed use to mel- 
low it, and illustrating with her crutch the em- 
phatic sound of Anne’s boots, as she walked out. 

The result of this change of heart, or rather of 
manner, for at heart the old woman had always 
been good as gold, was that even when picnic 
days were over, and the good folks of Dogtown 
left the fields for the fireside, and children re- 
turned to school, Robin Hood’s Inn, remote as it 
was, became a meeting-place for autumn walks, 
and Saturday parties out to gather leaves or nuts. 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


251 


Moreover, few people could decide which attracted 
them the most, the tea and seedcakes, the courtesy 
of Laddie the old collie, Jill’s coaxing antics, or 
Mrs. Carr’s fine hospitality. 

“ Herb Witch you shall still be called, for no 
one brews tea like you,” said Mr. Hugh, one after- 
noon as he sat by the wide fireplace, holding one 
of the precious Lowestoft cups that had been filled 
the second time. 

Mrs. Carr, for some unknown reason, never 
served anyone but him she termed her “ landlord,” 
and Miss Letty from these cups. 

Miss Jule, her niece, Anne, and her mother had 
been driving together and had likewise stopped 
for a chat, also to inquire for a delicate little 
spaniel, one of an overlarge litter, that Mrs. Carr 
was mothering. 

“ Ah, but I’ve fostered a rival at the tea drawin’,” 
said the old lady with a smile. “ Miss Lettice 
here betters me at it, ’twas she that drew that very 
potful as your foot was on the sill.” 

“ Why didn’t you put a few poison ivy leaves 
in it? I’m quite surprised,” laughed Mr. Hugh, 
never thinking how the jest might hurt the young 
girl with whom he had been on very friendly 
terms since the day of the storm. But that was 
Mr. Hugh’s chief fault ; he often sharpened his lit- 


252 


DOGTOWN 


tie jokes upon other people’s feelings, while Miss 
Letty never did. She said nothing, however, but 
going to the window picked up Jill, and resting 
her upon the sill laid lier face against one of the 
long soft ears. 

“ Some day, Hugh,” said Miss Jule, rather 
sharply, “ Letty and I will find a thin spot in 
your cuticle, and then we will alwaj^s keep salt 
ready to rub in it ! ” 

“ Ah ! but there’s a bonnie fortune here,” said 
Mrs. Carr, discerning something awry and lifting 
Letty’s empty cup she looked in the botton ; “ but 
what’s this on tother side ? ” she muttered, “ two 
horses travelling even, and then one ahead and 
riderless. I can’t read that — best wash the cup.” 

♦ * * * # 

No matter how warm the noontide sun might 
be, when September came W addles liked to lie by a 
fire in the evening. If there was none in the hall 
chimney-corner he would nose open the door into 
the kitchen and stretch himself on the warm hearth 
before the range, for though he would not like to 
have had it mentioned, he was rheumatic, and his 
left hind leg often gave him trouble in crossing 
stone walls. As for rail fences, he had ceased even 
going through them, and always crawled under. 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


253 


Mrs. Waddles also enjoyed fireside evenings, 
and had coaxed her way until she shared the rug 
with her spouse as a matter of course, though he 
alone slept at Anne’s door. Happy going back to 
the nursery kennel for the night. Jack still slept 
there with her, for if ever there was a “mother boy” 
it was he. All day long he kept her in sight, and 
at night drew as close to her as in the days of his 
dependent puppyhood. 

It was one of the first of these evenings. A 
log was smouldering lazily on the hearth in the 
hall, though doors and windows were open and 
the house was full of moonlight. 

The family had all gone to Miss Jule’s for 
supper and to talk over a harvest festival with 
out-door sports that Mr. Hugh proposed to hold 
at Robin Hood’s Inn. 

Before Anne went out she ran to the hall table 
to take one more look at something very precious 
that had come that afternoon — her camera, so long 
wished for, had actually arrived, and she was all 
eagerness for daylight that she might use it, as 
she had watched her father at his work so often 
that she felt as if she really knew how. He had 
insisted that she begin with plates instead of films, 
tliat she might the more easily develop her pic- 
tures and thus discover her own mistakes, so the 


254 


DOGTOWN 


camera was a substantial four by five instrument 
in a leather-covered case, with a light tripod for 
time work. 

Waddles lay on the outer edge of the bearskin 
rug, Happy being next the fire, everything was 
quiet except her little whimpering snore and 
the crickets that chanted outside, led, it seemed, 
by one persistent individual in the wood-box. 

Suddenly Happy gave a groan, and began to 
shiver and cry in her sleep. Up started Waddles, 
stumbled over her before he understood from 
where the noise came, and then gave her a little 
shake, saying, in a language that, deaf though she 
was, she understood: “Wake up. What is the 
matter? You were so greedy about that cold 
sausage at supper that I knew you’d have 
trouble.” 

Happy gave a despairing kick or two, then 
rolled over, and, gaining her feet, sniffed once or 
twice, her back bristling, and then opened her 
eyes. “ I thought that I was a kennel dog 
again,” she said with a little gasp, settling herself 
close by Waddles, as if craving protection from 
such a catastrophe, and scratching an ear to be 
sure that she was herself. 

“ I never lived in a kennel, though when I was 
very young I used to wish I did. The Hilltop 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


255 


dogs got lots to eat and I didn’t.” “Why 
didn’t you like it?” asked Waddles, who, hav- 
ing thoroughly waked up, was in the mood for 
a lazy, comfortable chat. 

“ Ting, ting, ting, bur-r-r,” said the telephone 
bell by the door. Waddles jumped up bristling, 
and barked his yap, yap, “ treed-cat ” bark at it ; 
he always regarded the telephone as a personal in- 
sult, and as he did not quite fathom its workings 
or understand a voice unattached to a person he 
was not a little afraid of it, a fact he managed to 
conceal by bluster. 

Through it he heard his mistress’s voice when 
she was at Miss Jule’s and wanted to ask if she 
might stay to dinner or supper, but he could get 
no scent of lier whereabouts. Also he could hear 
the master talking to the fishman, whose odour 
was ohan and forbidden of good dogs, and was his 
chief enemy besides, having dared to flick his 
whip at him. Was it not aggravating to hear 
those rasping tones without having a chance to 
pretend to nip his heels or bark his bony horse 
into a gallop ? 

Now that there was no one at home to take 
down the magic tube that released the evil spirit, 
he could take his revenge and bark his mind, 
which he did until he was hoarse. 


256 


DOGTOWN 


“ Why didn’t I like it ? ” asked Happy, now also 
quite awake, and with great energy. “ There was 
enough to eat, I suppose, but how, and when, and 
where? I should like you to tell me that first.” 

As Waddles didn’t know, he could not tell, so 
Happy took the floor, or rather the bearskin, and 
began her story, occasionally punctuating it by 
pauses caused by stopping to give her paws an 
extra wasliing. 

“ Melody, my mother, was not born in a kennel, 
though after she had great sport and hunted a 
few years, she came to live at Hilltop. I was 
born there, and the difference between living in 
a kennel and running free begins even before your 
eyes are open. 

“ Of course you’ve looked into the kennel yard 
four acres big, inside the tall wire fence and seen 




TOLD BY THE EIRE 


257 


the grass-run, and the swimming-pool, but have 
you ever been inside the long red house made 
into rooms with many windows and doors, and 
a little yard by each?” 

“No,” said Waddles, “I’ve often tried, but 
some one always drove me away, though once, 
when I had stepped inside the door, I ran down 
a long hallway when a big black and white setter, 
who seemed to be all by himself in a small room, 
told me I’d best get out while I could, for maybe 
if I waited I couldn’t, and begged me to bring 
him a bone next time I came.” 

“ That was old Antonio, a boarder,” said Happy, 
looking into the fire as if she saw the past in it. 
“ His master used to have a country house like 
this, and he raised Antonio from a pup, took him 
hunting every leaf fall, and let him lie on the 
hearth-rug winter nights, but when the master 
sold the house and went away, he sent Antonio 
to board at Hilltop until he should come back 
for him. He promised to come soon, but that 
was the summer that I was a pup, and Antonio is 
still waiting. 

“ Of course he is comfortable in a way ; he and 
Rufus, the Irish setter with red hair, have a good 
room together, each with a boxed straw bed, and 
a private yard to lie in when they are not turned 


258 


DOGTOWN 


into the great yard for running, but they are in 
chain when they sleep at night, and when they are 
fed, and that is a grievous thing to an old dog 
who has once run free, and owned his bones. My 
mother told me so then, but being born a kennel 
dog I did not understand.” 

“ What were the other rooms in that long 
house?” asked Waddles, now sitting up wide 
awake and interested. “ I saw more doors than 

there are in this 
whole house or 
at Miss Jiile’s, 
and though I 
was in a hurry, 
I sniffed good 
crisp brown 
smells.” 

“ Some rooms 
like Antonio’s 
are for the 
grown dogs that 
live there all 
the time except 
when they go 
away for hunting. Then there are others closer 
and warmer for the mother dogs with families ; 
I was born in one of these, and stayed there with 



TOLD BY THE FIRE 


259 


my little brothers and sisters until I was six 
weeks old, and could stand firm upon my feet 
without resting on my stomach. Before this, for 
many days, when my mother was let out for lier 
airing, she stayed away longer and longer, and 
when we were hungry they gave us milk to lap 
from a tin, which was tiresome and took much 
more trouble than to eat the way our mother 
taught us, lying close to her where we could 
knead her warm sides with our paws. Finally, 
one night she did not come back at all. Then 
we were taken from our little bedroom to a great 
square place, all wood dust on the floor and with 
a great black thing standing in the middle that 
frightened me terribly, but afterward I found that 
it was called a stove, and was warm inside and 
pleasant to lie by, though it could not feed us 
as our mother did. 

“In this big room were many other pups of 
different kinds and sizes, who played or dozed 
in corners, but there were none as small as we, 
and we felt sad and lonely. I well remember 
how Ave squealed that niglit until Baldy’s brother 
brought Miss Jule and she had us put back into 
our little room, but our mother was not there. 
Once in the night she answered as from far aAvay ; 
but she couldn’t come for there were many doors 


260 


DOGTOWN 


between. They called this weaning us, so that 
we should learn to care for ourselves ; but if you 
are born free like our Jack and Jill it all happens 
of itself and there is no sorrow. Next day we 
went back to the big room Avith all the other pup- 
pies, and four times every day each one of us was 
put into a little box like a chicken-coop — there 
was a row of them all round the wall — and given 
a dish of food.” 

“ What was that for ? ” asked W addles, “ why 
did they shut you up ? I like to Avalk about when 
I eat.” 

“ Because,” answered Happy, feeling proud and 
important at knowing something that Avise Wad- 
dles did not, “ if the food Avas given to us at once 
the biggest Avould gobble tAvo or three shares and 
the small pups Avould get none. At the kennels 
groAvn dogs are tied Avhen they eat, but pups wear 
no collars, for they are bad things for their soft 
necks. 

“ After a Avhile we became used to the life and 
had good times playing in the puppy pasture. 
One day Ave saAV our mother in the other enclosure 
with the groAvn dogs, and we ran close to the 
fence and tried to dig under it ; but kennel fences 
are set deep Avith melted stone poured round the 
posts. When Ave found we could not get through 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


261 


we barked and wagged our tails and then even 
our bodies when we saw her coming toward us ; 
but she did not notice us at all — she had forgot- 
ten us ! ” 

“ Then who taught you to play snatch-bone and 
wrestle, who killed your fleas for you and washed 
you?” asked Waddles, with indignation. 

“We learned to wrestle by tumbling about to- 
gether. As to snatch-bone, how could we play it, 
we who have no bones ? ” 

“No bones ! ” echoed Waddles, in amazement. 

“None to keep, or to bury, or play with ; such 
as we had must be gnawed at a meal or they 
were taken away. How could kennel dogs who 
are never alone bury bones without having them 
stolen and breeding a fight ? 

“ One day after I had left the puppy yard old 
Antonio kept a round bone hidden in Ins mouth 
to gnaw on later. Forgetting himself he barked 
and dropped it. Oh, but there was a commotion 
that took three men, besides Miss Jule, to quell, 
and all the dogs were bristling and angry for 
three days. 

“Waddles,” and there were almost tears in 
Happy’s eyes, “ you don’t know what it was to be 
a well-fed kennel dog, and yet be so poor that 
you had not even a bone to bury ! And if you 


262 


DOGTOWN 


had one you could not hide it in a floor of melted 
stone. 

“ I noticed that as I grew bigger and stronger 
and hungrier I had fewer meals, until when I 
was grown and slept in a separate room with Flo, 
the English setter, we had but one a day; a great 
pan of warm stew with bread in it, every evening 
when we were chained up for the night beside 
our beds.” 

“That stew sounds good,” said Waddles, lick- 
ing his lips, “ and what for breakfast ? ” 

“No breakfast. No bits of toast from Tommy, 
or chop shank from the master. It’s always 
supper with a kennel dog. It isn’t Miss Jule’s 
fault, or anybody’s ; there aren’t enough bits of 

toast or chop bones 
to feed a yard full 
of pups and dogs. 

“ As to the fleas 
and baths, when we 
were old enough Bal- 
dy’s brother Martin 
washed us every week. 
There is a room next 
to the nursery kennel 
that has a water-box 
in it like the one our 




TOLD BY THE FIRE 


263 


COWS drink out of, and above it hang rows and 
rows of collars of all sizes, ready for dogs to wear 
who are to go away or come to the kennel without 
them. 

“We little pups were washed in this box, and 
if we cried or jumped about Martin would put a 
collar on to hold us by. The washing wasn’t bad 
at first, but it was very wet and sometimes cold, 
and the big brush he used wasn’t as soft and warm 
as our mother’s tongue that washed and wiped at 
the same time. 

“ Sometimes if Martin was tired or in a hurry he 
did not dry us well, and often dogs grew sick 
and sneezed and shivered. Then the big doctor- 
man came hurrying out from over town with his 
quick horse, to see them, and said they had ‘ dis- 
temper.’ When this happened Miss Jule would 
often sit up at night with them; and sometimes 
they got well, and sometimes they were taken 
away and never came back, then Miss Jule would 
say ‘ This is an unlucky season.’ But we knew it 
most often happened when Martin forgot some- 
thing, for Miss Jule could not feel each dog’s 
nose every day, and see if its eyes look bright, 
and ask us if we feel well, as our mistress does. 

“The flea-killing was worse; our mother took 
them one by one, but Martin rubbed sneezy powder 


264 


DOGTOWN 


in our hair, so if we tried to lick ourselves a bit 
we coughed and choked. Our Jack is nearly 
grown, and yet he has never had a bath from any 
one but me, and there’s not a flea upon him. See 
what it is to be born free and live a private life ! ” 

Then Mrs. Waddles’s broad chest swelled with 
pride, as she yawned, stretched her feet toward 
the fire, and curved her back. 

“ Where did the good smells come from ? ” 
asked Waddles. “Part of them might be soup, 
but the others were too much like the village 
bakery where Mistress sometimes buys us broken 
cakes.” 

“ That smell came from the kennel kitchen, you 
must have been there on a baking day. There 
are four rooms together that dogs must never go 
in, but the day our Mistress bought me from Miss 
Jule and I walked home with her, she went out 
through those rooms, then I saw and knew. The 
littlest room was full of the soap they wash us 
with, and bottles of the stuff they give us when we 
are sick or sprinkle on the melted stone floors, 
that are through all the kennels, to sweeten them. 

“ The next room had boxes in it like those that 
hold the horse food in our stable, and they were 
full of the stuff Martin makes the dog-bread of. 
I saw him take some out, and in the corner was a 


TOLD BY THE EIRE 


265 


great cold box, and 
though I could not 
see inside I smelled 
that it held meat, 
and near by was the 
kettle they cooked 
our soup in. In the 
biggest room of all 
there was a great 
block like that our 
butcher chops the 
meat on while we 
wait to catch the 
bits, also a big can full of milk and rows of 
tin pans piled on more shelves. 

“Just then I smelled something delicious and 
Mistress turned round, I following her; there I 
saw Martin standing by the open door of a great 
oven with a red fire below, and in it were pans and 
pans of crispy bread ready to take out, and more 
upon a table to go in, and Mistress broke off a 
crust that overhung, and threw it to me. I shan’t 
forget that crust; it was my first bite of liberty.” 

“Did you never run free at all, or never go out 
alone to have any sport ? I should have jumped 
that fence or dug out somehow.” 

“No, you would no^,” said Happy, decidedly. 



266 


DOGTOWN 



“ Silver Tongue, the biggest foxhound, could not. 
Ah, yes, we had good sport sometimes, all through 
the swamp woods trailing for rabbits though we 
never got any, and do you know. Silver Tongue 
told me once that they tied the smell up in a bag 
and dragged it on the ground just to make us run, 
and there was no rabbit ! 

“ One day, though, they took me with some 
older dogs to track real rabbits, for I saw them 

and I had run 
one into a fence 
corner, and it 
turned round 
and looked at me, 
when such an 
awful noise came 
down upon my 
head I thought 
the sky had fal- 
len. I forgot the 
rabbit and fell 
over for my head 
ached terribly. 
Martin picked me 
up and rubbed 
my head and 
wrapped me in 


TOLD BY THE FIRE 


267 


his coat, then everything was still. It has been so 
ever since, pleasant and quiet. When I felt bet- 
ter I saw Martin’s gun was broken and burst, and 
now I have to see with my eyes what people want 
of me, for my ears catch nothing. 

“ There was always sport, too, when new dogs 
came, either to live or board with us. They 
didn’t know the rules and so of course they made 
lots of mistakes. Sometimes they felt sulky and 
would not eat their supper because they didn’t 
know that there was no breakfast, and they 
would cry and beg, and if Miss Jule came by she 
would understand and give them some, but Martin 
only went by rule. 

“You know the open shed up at Hilltop where 
the log- wood is kept, and the old grindstone ? for 
we’ve often chased squirrels up the back of it. 
That shed is in the puppy yard, and the boxes 
that dogs travel in are kept there. We pups 
used to have great sport lying there in the shade 
to watch the boxes brought in and out, and see 
who came, who went away. 

“We all thought it would be fun to go travel- 
ling and often scrambled in and out of them, but 
if Martin shut the door we were frightened, and 
glad enough to be loose again. The boxes were not 
tight but opened and latticed like hen-coops, and 


268 


DOGTOWN 



tliey called them dog crates. It was a fine thing 
at the end of summer to see the crates brought 
out and cleaned, and the old dogs, setters, hounds, 
and spaniels, who had been away before for the 
hunting, go nearly wild with joy at sight of them, 
and clamour for the start. 

“ The youngsters who had never been, and 
thought the crate a punishment, trembled at 
first, but the others explained, and so all 
through the autumn there was coming, going, 
and excitement. 

“Sometimes, on fine days. Miss Jule would come 
with an apronful of dog-bread, and throw the bits 
for us to catch, and that day was lield a great 
festival. For the one who jumped the highest, 



TOLD BY THE FIRE 


269 


or caught the quickest, would get an extra bit, or 
be taken out to spend the day at the house, and 
have its dinner with Mr. Wolf, Miss Jule’s very 
own best dog, and Tip, the head retriever. When 
these dogs came back to the kennels, though, 
there was always a row, for they felt so very fine 
and big, and bragged so about what they had 
seen, and the dozens of bones they had gnawed 
or buried, that finally, we who were neither quick 
nor clever could not bear it, so we agreed that 
whenever a dog came back from running free we 
would all bark together so loud that not a word of 
what he said could be heard. 

“ Flo, the English setter, one of my best friends, 
who lives up there still, tells me that times are 
much better now, for Miss Letty takes a great 
interest in the dogs, and every morning, as soon 
as she has had breakfast, she comes to the fence 
of the front yard, bringing a basket of dog-bread. 
She gives a whistle, and when the dogs are all 
collected then she begins throwing them bread, 
bit by bit, aiming it so carefully that even the 
stupidest, slowest dog of them gets at least one 
piece. Then sometimes she will go inside the 
fence of the big field and throw a ball for the 
dogs to chase, and Flo says that when Miss 
Letty calls the dog who wins by name, or praises 


270 


DOGTOWN 


him, he likes it better than a bone, and wags 
away like mad. So now the kennel dogs have 
two things a day to look forward to, supper at 
night, and Miss Letty in the morning.” 

“ I call that a very stupid life,” said W addles, 
yawning and stretching in his turn ; “ isn’t there 
any real hunting or real fun ? ” 

“ Yes, in the autumn and once already this sea- 
son there was a hunt, Flo says. It was Miss Letty 
who let the dogs out to go to it, and Silver Tongue, 
the foxhound, who showed them the way. My, 
but they had fine running and catching, only Flo 
says that their getting out was an accident, and 
that Mr. Hugh was very angry, but Squire Buiie}'^ 
and Miss Jule only laughed and laughed, and it 
w'as a week before the dogs all got back.” 

“ Hurry up, and go on and tell about it,” said 
Waddles, sniffing uneasily. “Mistress will be at 
home soon, and then you will have to go out to 
bed, and 1 sha’n’t hear what they hunted.” 

“ They are here now,” said Happy, holding her 
head on one side, for though she could not hear, 
she could feel the vibration of coming footsteps. 

“ Keep quiet,” said Waddles, “it is so dark that 
maybe mistress will go by and forget you.” 

The master went through the hallway to the 
library. Tommy stumbled sleepily along toward 


' ' jr 



^ ■«:’• <r -■« 5 i 

•* * ’ i» 




« • 


•^i , i .‘> " 

/ 'll? . *^ ' 



r^\J ** 

^ '.rf •v ■ • < 

. *“ V ,1^-v Vi ,, • 4 
t- , *• 




I » • 


4 .- 


* « 




« » 


f 


‘ y- . 

m f t 


• ''■ • '* .' 7 v "* 'i.' 

I : w’ 


iV 


» > 





t J 








.9 


.air' 

. - V 


n ' r* 




r. '51 

< . >,■ ^ 

L> • ■•- - 


• « 


% 


f 


• I 


rv.lt 





^ »♦ 



* - ... 

■. . c: ■* i 

%k„ ' K.-J "!? 4 


V 

- s: * ^ • .. 



M** * ‘• •'IT' '- 




Miss Letty feeding the Kennel Dogs. 





TOLD BY THE FIKE 


273 


the stairs, holding his mother’s hand, while Anne 
went to the table where the moonlight showed her 
that the camera was safe and sound, and after 
giving it a caressing touch, called Waddles and 
went up to bed, but not to sleep. 


CHAPTER XI 

“ OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY ! ” 

That Waddles did not go up stairs the moment 
he was called was nothing unusual, for though 
Anne’s door-mat was his regular bed he was at 
liberty to roam about the house at will. 

He sat quite still for a few minutes, listening 
until the footsteps overhead ceased, his eyes glow- 
ing through the dark like bits of green phospho- 
rescence, then settled himself again with a sigh, 
for his back legs were extra stiff. Happy, hav- 
ing forgotten and gone to sleep, was again strug- 
gling with bad dreams, so he had to arouse her. 

“ Now that I’ve managed for you to stay in- 
doors, the least that 3^011 can do is to tell me about 
the hunting the kennel dogs took out of season,” 
he said, as soon as she was fairl}" awake. Poor 
Happy was heavy with sleep, but her obliging 
disposition conquered, though she nodded two or 
three times before she remembered where she left 
her story. 


274 


“OVER THE HILLS AND EAR AWAY!” 275 


“ It was way back in the beginning of flea time, 
when Miss Letty had not been up at Hilltop 
very long, that she gave the kennel dogs such a 
holiday as some of them had never had in their 
whole lives, though Flo does say that it happened 
quite by accident. 

“ All through the hill farms, Miss Jule’s, Squire 
Burley’s, and Mr. Hugh’s, there are trees that bear 
those big long-stemmed red berries that the birds 
love ; cherries, I think House People call them. 
When I lived up there I used to watch out under 
the trees to see the robins and cat-birds come to 
eat them, and laugh at poor Antonio, who used 
to get a stiff neck pointing at the birds up in the 
branches, never getting anything but the pits they 
dropped on his long nose. 

“ Flo says that Miss Letty loves these cherries, 
and that after picking all the ripe ones she could 
reach from the ground and fences, one day she 
came riding along to gather them on horseback. 
The best trees were in Squire Burley’s paddock 
where his foxhound kennels are, and as he had 
often asked Miss Letty to come and help herself, 
she opened the gate with her whip handle, rode 
through and thought she closed it after her, but 
it didn’t quite latch. Harkaway, one of the 
squire’s hounds, told me this. The squire has five 


276 


DOGTOWN 


hounds but no one else in Dogtown, except Miss 
Jule and Mr. Hugh, keeps more than one each, 
and when they really go a-hunting in the fall the 
squire stands at his gate and fires his gun, then all 
the people know the signal and come bringing 
their dogs, and together they make as fine a pack 
as the Hilltop Kennels can show. 

“ Miss Letty rode slowly along under the trees, 
now and then pulling down a branch with her 
whip, but she didn’t stay very long before she 
went out again and turned into the brush lane 
that runs from the squire^s down behind Miss 
Jule’s kennel yard toward the rabbit wood. 

“ Then Harkaway signalled to the other hounds 
with the silent signal for still hunting and no cry, 
and they slunk out of the high paddock gate after 
nosing it open a little wider. Keeping behind 
the fence they followed Miss Letty to the back 
gate of Miss Jule’s kennel yard where they lay 
low and waited. Now those high gates have a 
strange fastening ; the latch falls between two iron 
paws that move and hold it, but sometimes though 
the gate stays shut one paw forgets to move, and 
a quick nose can shove the gate before the paw 
remembers. That is what happened when Miss 
Letty opened that back kennel gate ; the outside 
paw was stiff and did not lay hold. 








J-lt 


1 v 


ISv^V V’v' 

/l^.i 


'4 “ 

#. ’-v 



I ii 


1 


1-^ 






\ 

I !• 



• >« 


* i ^ • 




u 






-^1.: 


'a 


* 






'-f,V^ 



fc ■-■ *: 


‘ ^ • 4 . 9 

'■::Tm 


<• ■ 

• • 


« 




5cv'Hk.rV-^- ■' ■ -'■ "' ■ ■' 

b, ?■ 4 '*-y ■ . :f 

^1-. . : /: SVSi 

r - < '* ^ • • * ♦ 


I « 


' ♦W* 



•v 


'■JT 

‘=*L 


- •* 




- »V t 


'4^ 


- V 


[9 







v^V'v .' 

* • • * I ’’ ^^ 

* » % ’ • .f 




Pulling’ a branch down with 





“OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 279 


“No sooner was she well inside and going to the 
swimming-pool to give her horse a drink, than 
Harkaway, lying outside in the long grass, gave 
Silver Tongue the silent signal. Then Silver 
Tongue, standing in his usual place, watching 
frogs by the pond sluiceway, gave his far-away cry 
that sounded as if it came from over by Mr. 
Hugh’s barn, and Miss Letty, hidden by low- 
hanging trees, did not notice that all the fox-, 
hounds understood it and sprang up, that the 
setters stood first at a point and then dashed 
toward the gate, one by one disappearing down 
the lane. 

“Lucky for them that Mr. Wolf didn’t see, for 
he would have told Miss Jule and spoiled their 
sport, for of all the dogs within or out the kennel 
Mr. Wolf has the most ‘say so,’ and we almost 
know that he tells Miss Jule our secrets, and that 
they talk together. This much was told me; the 
rest I saw myself, for I was in the lane on rabbit 
business that morning. 

“ As it happened, it was our family, the Beagles, 
that gave warning, for the moment the first one, old 
Bramble, my grandmother, and my uncle Meadow 
Brook, got into that lane they fell on a fresh rab- 
bit trail and gave tongue, and then the hounds 
answered with full cry, and throwing family pride 


280 


DOGTOWN 


away, ran with the little hounds, barking, yelp- 
ing, following every trail, fresh and stale, and 
dashing here and there, wliere there was no scent 
at all. 

“ Miss Letty turned, saw what she had done, and 
galloped toward the house, from which Martin and 
Miss Jule came running, speechless with astonish- 
ment, for all the dogs in the grow-ups’ exercise 
yard had gone, and the puppies were wild v/ith 
excitement and dashing at the wires. 

“ At first Miss Letty was almost crying, but in 
a few minutes Miss Jule began to laugh until she 
shook all over, and you know that is a great deal of 
shake. Then Miss Letty laughed, too, and Martin 
closed the back gate and opened one to the barn- 
yard, and sat down by the pump and waited. 

“ Soon Mr. Hugh came riding by, looking, oh, so 
cross, that I was afraid and hid. He went to 
where Miss Jule was standing by the puppy yard 
fence talking to Flo, and asking her how she came 
there. Flo had been shut in by mistake that day, 
and as she couldn’t get out to go with the others 
she was amusing herself catching meadow-mice 
and she told me what they said. Flo is such a 
hard-working dog, and she points, flushes, and 
retrieves as well as any two others, and even when 
she is shut up she keeps in practice on mice. 


“OVER THE HILLS AND EAR AWAY!” 281 



toads, and squirrels. I can always tell when it’s 
a meadow-mouse she is pointing, even when I 
watch her through the wires from far off, because 
she stands short and points down into the grass, 
but other times she spreads out more and points 
ahead. This day she quite forgot the mouse in 
listening to Mr. Hugh; for she said she never 
knew before that House People could growl.” 

What Mr. Hugh said did not interest Waddles, 
who was eager for the hunting, so Happy did not 
tell it ; but as twofoots may like to hear, it is 
recorded as it happened. 

“ Whose carelessness is this ? ” asked Mr. Hugh. 


282 


DOGTOWN 


“Mine,” said Miss Letty, with a mischievous 
twinkle in her eyes, before Miss Jule could answer. 
“ I didn’t latch the gate, but the dogs will all be 
back in a few days. Miss J ule says. What makes 
you look so fierce ? Surely, your dogs are all safe 
at home ? ” 

“ That’s exactly what they all are not,” said Mr. 
Hugh, gnawing the ends of his brown mustache, 
while his gray eyes flashed green and yellow 
sparks, and he beat an angry tattoo with his whip 
on his leather gaiter. 

“ But I’ve not been on your land stealing 
cherries, or opened your gates,” said Miss Letty, 
looking puzzled. 

“That was not necessary. I was walking 
below in the lane with a string of young, un- 
broken dogs on leaders — four hounds, and half 
a dozen setter pups — when a whirlwind of dogs 
came by, some yelping, some in full cry, with 
their noses to the ground, some looking in the 
air, some tumbling over each other on a single 
trail, and others dashing about between half a 
dozen. In the hubbub my dogs escaped and fol- 
lowed the others — ” 

“ Over the hills and far away ! ” sang Miss Letty, 
before Mr. Hugh could finish his sentence, her 
laughing face breaking into dimples, — “but pray. 


OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 


288 


how could they get away if you had them in 
leash ? ” 

“ I let go — that is, the stringer slipped through 
my hand, and so, because Miss Heedless left that 
gate open, a fine lot of pups that I bred for exhibi- 
tion and who have never before left the kennels, 
have gone goodness knows where, and, ten to one, 
I shall never see any of them again. I’m awfully 
annoyed,” and Mr. Hugh swung himself off his 
horse and fumbled with the bit to cool his heated 
temper. 

It would have been better for him if he had 
stayed mounted, for Mr. Hugh on horseback had 
a commanding figure, while on the ground his 
legs seemed too short for his body, so that the 
sudden change was always something of a shock 
to the looker-on. 

Miss Letty coloured a trifle and then said 
pleasantly, but in quite a firm voice, as if she 
had decided that she would not be treated like a 
child any longer : “ I don’t wonder that you are 
annoyed at having been what Anne calls ‘ rattled,’ 
and letting your dogs slip through your fingers, I 
sympathize with you. I should be if I were you ; 
but I think you will see them again for they will 
probably kill all the ducks and geese and turkeys 
they meet. I’ve noticed it’s a way young dogs 


284 


DOGTOWN 


have on their first outings. Then of course the 
owners will bring back the dogs and the bills for 
damages together. Oh, no, your dogs will re- 
turn.” 

After that day Mr. Hugh was quite careful how 
he crossed swords with Miss Letty, and she no 
longer stood in awe of him, which means that 
they then began to understand each other without 
knowing it. 

* W: * * * * 

Happy got up and turned her other side to the 
fire, before she continued. She felt uneasy, and 
thought perhaps she had eaten too much sausage ; 
but it was so good and she always felt hungry. 

“ The hunting, where did the dogs go ? ” 
prompted Waddles. 

“They ran down the lane together until they 
reached the low woods by the brook, and after 
trampling the trails into a snarl, they divided, the 
beagles keeping in the rabbit land. The others 
climbing up the rocks and following the ledge 
that goes on and on until it is Pine Ridge, where 
the fox lairs are and the best coon- trees. For of 
course the old hounds remembered the real hunt- 
ing days when any autumn day might find the 
Squire’s hounds chained to the fence in readiness 



He stood in his gateway holding his gun. 









*•>- 

V ’ ' i'^ ' 

.T 



• -'^«'_/i * - ^ i ' * 5t-. ^ ‘ ^ r* ’ * * * ■■ I 

%- ■r^^:^r:\’^'^ '. fi 

W ^ -• «. « 4 ^ . 


."■’VvJ ■• 



•. V ■ • ■" 

_ .-a'-- ...■■*■*■•' * 


^ 

• • 

9 

. ■!• • a J 

•0 . . * 

'J 

- s » 





' 





, V 

* 



r 

t - * 








-. i 

* -<'* ' *V^L»S 3 U . 

■■-i " *• »'■*••• r ‘ *- ' 

K* .. 



.. >*x *• 




rr-* 


A 





9 4 • 



t 


I 1 


’'.v 


,*.*A 

'.- ‘r 



- - j;.* ,.- :V' ’•^•'- * *''• 



•, v-f >--..•<■» • '.-B^ 


>•' • ■;' ■ 't*-. ', I 

^ *•. 4 


• V 


* « .A*^' aU 

t. Ji r ' «r^ m. ’, • 


■t • ‘ . ’4 * • . *•,-*•. 

■ i - ‘ w ♦- • • • i I - A . • 

MH » » ^^» • •• V .1 


:•* 



4 t 






it/' 









OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 287 


while he stood in the gateway holding his gun 
waiting to fire the signal to tell the neighbours 
that a fox had been seen, when they would gather 
men and dogs to scramble afoot over rocks and 
briers. Of course as you are a house fourfoot, I 
suppose you never went fox-hunting ; but I will 
tell you one thing, it is no work for beagles ; our 
legs are too short, for the foxhounds lope like 
horses and we get nowhere.” 

“I’ve been,” answered Waddles, putting on a 
worldly wise expression, such as Hamlet used to 
wear w^hen he did tricks, and before he found 
himself, “ I haven’t forgotten it. I was away two 
nights and a day and Missy thought me dead 
because it was at the time we had adventures and 
saw strange things and we had been to the far 
woods to see the Bad One die, only two days 
before. 

“ At first I followed the fox trail with the 
hounds. It’s a queer trail, and smells rank and 
raw, not ripe and delicious like a rabbit’s. Soon I 
fell back and stumbled, for they went over places 
I could only crawl through, and then I sprained 
a paw and drew into a corner where the moss was 
soft, to rest. When I waked up it was early 
morning, and I was stiff and hungry. I tried 
to surprise a rabbit for breakfast, but the wind 


288 


DOGTOWN 


was the wrong way and they scented me first. 
I was too lame to walk much at a time, and I had 
.to rest often. Toward afternoon I caught a mole 
and tried to eat it, but ugh ! it had such a horrid 
flavour that it sickened me, and the fur was 
loose and gave me a cough. Just before night 
I caught a red squirrel that was trying to rob 
a nest and got pecked in the eye and fell out of 
the tree. The squirrel was an old fighter, with 
iron legs, a leather body, and wooden insides, 
not a bit juicy, and only good to chew. Next 
morning I limped home in time to breakfast on 
kidney stew. I tell you Avhat it is, the hunting 
is fine for sport and killing, but living by it is 
quite another thing, and running with foxhounds 
is not good for beagles.” 

“Well, as I was saying,” continued Happy, 
“the old foxhounds kept on up to Pine Ridge, 
the little ones following very well, but the setter 
pups turned off at the Mill cross-roads and got 
into trouble. 

“Besides the Squire’s dogs and Miss Jule’s, all 
the idlers in Dogtown had gathered and straggled 
after when they heard the foxhounds call, and 
there are mischief-makers among fourfoots as well 
as with House People. 

“ Beyond the Mill is a big turkey pasture, you 


“OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 289 


know, the place we buy our turkeys from. Just 
as the setters were passing it a hairy yellow cur 
came up and said, ‘ There’s fine hunting there and 
plenty of it — nice young birds.’ The moment 
those setters got under the bars their noses went 
down and their tails whirled around like buzz- 
saws, and they zigzagged across the pasture, 
charging on the first flock in a body. These 
were fine white turkeys. The hen who led them 
showed fight, but the yellow cur teased her off, 
and the setters, knowing nothing, bit and shook 
and scattered feathers, until of the fifteen young 
turkeys not one was left unhurt ; then, wild with 
excitement and the taste of game, they dashed 
down the field to where some fine bronze birds 
were sunning themselves. Half a dozen fell 
before a great gobbler charged from the bushes 
and gave chase, while the cur picked out one of 
the killed and took it behind a stone fence, where 
he ate it at his leisure. Then men began to 
gather from the fields and two of the pups were 
caught and tied securely in the barn while the 
turkeys were collected. 

“ ‘ Some one will pay well for these,’ said the 
farmer, as he laid twenty-nine young turkeys in a 
row, ‘and the bill will read twenty-nine Thanks- 
giving turkeys at $2.00 each, for that’s what 
u 


290 


DOGTOWN 


they were on the road to. Now we’ll round up 
the dogs’ owner,’ and he went toward the stable 
to harness a team. 

“ The other two setters, Patty and Rory, disap- 
pointed in having to leave before they had tasted 
meat, went toward the mill-pond for a drink. 
‘ Quack, quack,’ said a covey of plump white 
ducks, sailing from the open into a little bushy 
cove. 

“ Quick as a lightning-bug, the pups splashed 
after them, Rory O’Moore leading, for he was a 
special pet of Mr. Hugh’s, and had taken swim- 
ming lessons from Hamlet in the kennel pool, 
once crossing the river. The ducks dove, and 
scattered, but the pups seized a long neck each, 
and, determined not to go hungry this time, took 
their game to the shelter of the very door-steps of 
the mill to make a luncheon. Poor pups ! they 
knew no better, but they do now, for the big 
miller caught them and dropped them into an 
empty feed bin, where it was nearly dark, and oh, 
so stuffy ! Then the turkey farmer driving down 
the road pulled up, and after some talk the miller 
got in with him, and they drove off together, the 
turkeys and two ducks packed in the wagon box 
for witnesses. 

“ It was lonely that day up in the kennel yard, I 









I 


I 






» 




9 



G 


>■ *. 





Antonio and the Young Spaniels. 


OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!’’ 293 


can tell you. Flo said it made her feel like the 
leaf-fail time, when she had the distemper, and all 
the bird dogs had gone travelling in their crates 
but she; and she was glad to talk to a lame- 
winged crow that came to beg, for the only 
grown dog in the big lot was old Antonio, and 
with him the young spaniels Ruth, Dell, and 
Una, who plagued his wits out by chasing him 
round and round the pool, and daring him to 
swim. 

“ MeanAvhile the beagles were all over the woods, 
and I — well, I went with them, just for old ac- 
quaintance’ sake, you know. There were plenty 
of young rabbits round about, but somehow we 
were confused, and let them slip ; too many trails 
are worse than none, I find. But just before even- 
ing Clover-Dew, my litter brother, and Briar, my 
aunt, broke loose, going off together, and I fol- 
lowing, for they ran well, and the trail lay 
straight. 

“ Up from the wood they went, across pastures 
and a truck farm, until they gave tongue that 
the scent was hot, and the quarry close in front, 
then I saw two big rabbits that were the poorest 
leapers of any I ever knew. Will you believe it. 
Waddles, they even sat up once or twice and 
looked back at us. We overtook them in a fence 


294 


DOGTOWN 


corner that had a garden on the other side. We 
three charged together, and there was a great 
tussle, for if those rabbits were stupid about run- 
ning, they were fine kickers. Just as I had the 
biggest well by the leg, a man and a little girl came 
to the fence, and when she saw what we were 
doing, she began to hop up and down and scream, 
and cry, “ Oh, papa, save my poor bunnies ! ” 
Then I saw that she was Tommy’s friend. Pinkie 
Scott, and those fool rabbits were the foreign Hare 
things her father gave her for her birthday, and 
that she keeps in a great big bird-cage, — that is, 
when she remembers to shut the door, which isn’t 
often. Of course, we were polite and let go, 
and went a little way back in the field and sat 
down to rest. The rabbits ? Oh, one wasn’t 
hurt, but the other was — well — damaged; they 
mended him, for I saw him last week wlien I 
was down there to call on Luck and Pluck with 
Tommy. Pinkie had forgotten again, and those 
rabbits had broken loose and eaten all the late 
lettuce, and her father was chasing them, and he 
said, ‘I wish those little hounds had finished 
you last summer.’ Then I didn’t feel quite so 
ashamed of biting that hind leg as I liad before, 
and. Waddles, do you know, that everywhere I go 
to visit, private rabbits seem to be a nuisance, and 


“OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 


295 


a ‘better be dead’; so I’m sure they ought to be 
fair hunting, like the wild ones.” 

“Humph!” said Waddles, “good running as 
usual, but poor catching. What did the fox- 
hounds get, a mouthful of thistle-down?” 

“ Ah 1 but they had the best of it,” said Happy, 
her eyes sparkling ; “ they stayed out two whole 
days, and when they had tired out the stray dogs 
that followed and the young dogs that only 
wanted to play, they settled down to work. They 
knew their ground well for they’d just been on a 
spring run with the squire and Mr. Hugh to 
locate the dens for fall work. Late the next 
night, Flo says, the squire’s Harkaway and 
Meadow-Lark gave tongue so loudly that the 
squire and Mr. Hugh went out, and following 
the cry two miles found them just as they had 
killed an old gray fox, the biggest hen-roost rob- 
ber of all the Pine Ridge pack, one they had tried 
to shoot and trap for years, as his scars quickly 
told them. 

“Wasn’t the squire proud! He gave Miss Jule 
the brush, though it wasn’t good for much, — pelts 
are poor in summer, — and he made a meat feast for 
all the hounds, for after they had heard Meadow- 
Lark’s death bay they came limping back one by 
one. Next day when I went up to talk to Silver- 


296 


DOGTOWN 



Tongue he was standing as usual by the sluiceway 
of the swimming-pool catching frogs, but when I 
asked him to come over by the fence and lie down, 
and tell me about the great hunt, he said he’d 
rather stand up for he didn’t bend well. That is 
one of the hardest things about not running free, 
you don’t get your exercise every day when you 
want it, but when somebody else does, and then it 



“OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY!” 297 


comes all together in bunches, and between times 
you get rusty.” 

“ What happened about Mr. Hugh’s pups, did 
he get them back, and the turkeys and ducks?” 
asked Waddles, who was beginning to grow sleepy. 

“Bills happened and lots of talking, Hamlet 
told me about that and Mr. Wolf. The farmer 
and the miller wouldn’t give back the dogs until 
they got their money either, and Hamlet says if 
Mr. Hugh teases Miss Letty she only has to sing 
‘ Over the hills and far away ! ’ and he stops, but I 
don’t see what that has got to do with it, do you? ” 

“Hush!” signalled Waddles, knocking on the 
floor with his tail to attract Happy’s attention, 
“ Missy is coming ! ” 

Yes, Anne was coming downstairs, not barefoot 
this time, but dressed in a warm, red bath gown, 
her feet in moccasins, and looking in the dim 
light very like the Indian maidens she loved to call 
her kin. She had been planning what picture she 
would take first on the morrow, and she thought 
her camera might be safer in her room ; at any rate 
if she put it on the chair beside her bed she would 
see it the moment she opened her eyes, for this 
camera was not merely a picture machine to her, 
but a magical live thing to help her keep the 
images of those she loved. 


298 


DOGTOWN 


She was just deciding that Waddles should 
have the honour of being the first to be photo- 
graphed, as he would probably be ready sooner 
than her mother, when the burned-out log fell 
apart, and its parting glow showed her Happy, 
lying on the hearth-rug. 

“You in here! This will. never do; because, 
you see, when I bought you from Miss Jule, 
mother said that you might come here if I prom- 
ised that I would never let you sleep inside the 
house, not even once ; as, being a kennel dog so 
long, your manners are not quite those of a house 
fourfoot, — and I promised. Yes, I know it’s very 
nice in here ; but your house is nice, too, for Baldy 
put in a new bed to-night, and you’ll be very comfy; 
and you know, my dear, you do snore horribly, — 
such loud, growling snores. Besides, Jack Wad- 
dles is out there alone waiting for you. Ah ! do 
you mean to be spunky ? Then I shall call father, 
— no, I forgot ; he is busy in the study, and it’s 
a ‘ mustn’t be ’ to disturb him when he is there, 
you know, — only mother may do that. So don’t 
roll over on your back ; you are far too heavy for 
me to carry.” 

Anne gave a stamp and pointed to the door, — 
her way of telling the deaf little beagle that she 
meant business; and Happy got up slowly, and 


“OVER THE HILLS AND EAR AWAY!” 299 


crept, rather than walked, out, and made directly 
for the nursery kennel, which she still occupied, 
without more ado. Jack was, of course, delighted 
to see her ; but, strange to say, she did not return 
his caresses, but growled and snapped at him, and 
refused to let him go near the bedroom end of 
the house, which was separated from the front 
part and was full of straw. Instead of lying 
down at once, she rummaged about in the straw 
restlessly, throwing it out on the floor and refusing 
to lie down. After two rebuffs. Jack left the 
kennel, and stood looking disconsolately at Anne, 
who was quite puzzled, and Anally allowed Jack 
Waddles to go back to the house with her, saying 
as they went : “ This is quite a new arrangement, 
and to-morrow Jackie shall have a place of his 
own, if mamma is going to be cross. To-night, 
and maybe always, he shall be a house four foot, 
like his papa, if he will mind his ways and keep 
on his own rug.” 

Next morning there was a still newer order of 
things that quite settled the matter of Jack’s 
quarters, and also gave Anne an unlimited chance 
for photography as well. 


CHAPTER XII 


THE SIXLETS 

Anne was unusually drowsy the next morning, 
because she had not gone to sleep until quite late. 
Every time she began to sail off to the pleasant 
island where the Land of Nod is located, the new 
camera bobbed up and pushed her ashore again, 
and finally when she really drifted beyond its 
reach, she had a dim idea that it was skipping 
after her, on its long thin legs, like a water spider. 

At any rate she stumbled about in a most un- 
usual fashion, forgot that Jack Waddles had slept 
indoors for the first time and must be let out early, 
until Waddles came in and literally dug her out 
of bed as if she had been a woodchuck in its hole, 
and ran baying in front of her to the hall door. 
Next she almost overflowed the bath-tub by filling 
it so full that there was no room for the bather, and 
finally found herself sitting by the window won- 
dering whether* putting your stockings on wrong 
800 



The Sixlets. 




THE SIXLETS 


303 


side out was, as Mary Ann said, a sign of good 
luck, or merely stupidity on the part of the 
wearer. Just as she had decided that she would 
leave them on to see what happened, and securely 
tied her tan colored shoes. Tommy came running 
up and began to dance and shout under the win- 
dow in a state of wild excitement. 

Now Tommy was a confirmed “lie a-bed,” and 
to see him out before breakfast was a cause of 
wonder in itself ; but when Anne heard the words, 
“Happy — tiny little puppies — bit Jack Wad- 
dles,” she simply jumped into her petticoats and 
nearly fell out of the window as she fastened her 
collar, calling, “ Puppies ! Where ? Whose ? ” 

“ In the nursery kennel, ours and Happy’s, of 
course. Jackie Waddles wants to lick them and 
she won’t let him, and Baldy wouldn’t let me have 
but one look because he says light isn’t good for 
them and they’re ever so little and queer like 
Pinkie’s Guinea pigs.” 

“How many are there, twins like Jack and 
Jill?” asked Anne, again nearly popping out of 
the window, while she tied a blue ribbon at the 
top of her hair, and a pink one at the end of her 
braid in her excitement. 

Tommy darted off to consult Baldy who was 
bringing in the vegetables, and returned holding 


I 


804 


DOGTOWN 


up to his sister’s view one hand and the thumb of 
the other as he counted — “ One — two — three 
— four — five — six — there’s sixlets, Anne, and 
Baldy says that three’s girls and three’s boys ! ” 

“Then there are three pairs of twins,” said 
Anne, coming out of the side door. “ Of course 
Jackie’s nose is broken, the poor dear ! See him 
look in my face as if he didn’t understand why his 
mother should turn him off so. Never mind, when 
little brothers grow up you will have great sport 
playing with them, and seeing they don’t get in 
mischief, and meantime you shall be assistant 
house fourfoot, sleep on the front door-mat, and 
‘watch out’ for your living with papa Waddles.” 

After breakfast the entire family, augmented 
by Miss Jule, who had stopped in on her way to 
the village, went to see the pups, and though 
Happy was evidently pleased at the attention, she 
would not let any one but Anne come very near, 
and kept herself between the visitors and the 
precious “sixlets.” 

“If you take my advice,” said Miss Jule to 
Anne, “ you will have Baldy sweep all that loose 
straw out ; it is hard for the pups to move a^bout 
in, and by and by, when their eyes begin to open, 
the sharp ends will stick into them. I’ll send you 
down a barrel of prepared sawdust. If you sprinkle 


THE SIXLETS 


305 


it an inch thick on the floor of the bedroom part, 
and then lay a breadth of clean old straw matting 
on top, it will make the nicest sort of a bed, and 
if it grows cold of nights before they are old 
enough to live in the cow barn. I’ll lend you 
one of my little kennel stoves with a protector 
around it. 

“ Then until they are two weeks old, when 
their eyes will not only be opened, but they can 
really see with them, you must care for Happy 
entirely yourself, give her food and water, see 
that the door of her yard is open so that she can 
get in and out at will and keep herself clean, and 
do not let anybody handle the pups, for as soon 
as the news gets about. Pinkie, Jessie, Sophie, 
Charlie, and Jack will be here in a flock, and it’s 
as uncomfortable for pups to be loved to death as 
to die any other way.” 

Miss Jule thoughtfully asked Tommy to ride 
on to the village with her, and then go home and 
help her pick crab-apples for jelly that Miss Letty 
had promised to make. It was almost impossible 
for liim to keep his hands off the little creatures, 
and the chance of climbing and shaking the crab- 
apple trees and picking up the shining red fruit 
would hardly have been a counter attraction if it 
liad not been capped with the idea of helping 


306 


DOGTOWN 


Miss Letty with the Jelly. The skimmings of a 
jelly pot are very good when spread thick on thin 
bread, and the idea flashed through Tommy’s head 
that as it was Miss Letty’s first jelly-making she 
would be very apt to skim deep, and the results 
would be plentiful. 

Baldy arranged the house as Miss Jule sug- 
gested, that afternoon, also making a little win- 
dow at the top of the bed corner for ventilation, 
and Anne established the “ dining room,” as she 
called it, in the front half, where the food and 
water dishes could have a place clean and apart. 
Here for two weeks dwelt the “sixlets,” having 
no separate names or identity, except in the eyes 
of Anne, who knew them apart before they were 
anything but six insatiable mouths. 

Middle September brought some very warm 
days with it, and with all the doors wide open 
Happy moved to the dining room, where the air 
was better, and was at home to any admiring 
friends who chose to call, though she did not yet 
care to have the puppies touched, and had much 
more confidence in grown people than in children. 

The pups were a source of endless wonder to 
Anne, for though she had watched Jack and Jill 
grow up, she had not seen much of them during 
the first two or three weeks of their life, as they 


THE SIXLETS 



their rounded ears too thick 
droop; but their fur was of 


307 

had been born in 
the barn at a time 
when she was 
very busy with 
her lessons, and 
had not been 
brought to live 
in the nursery 
kennel until their 
eyes were open. 
The sixlets, 
moreover, were 
smaller, seem- 
ingly of a dain- 
tier build, and 
gave promise of 
being true bea- 
gles, and not tak- 
ing after their 
unacknowledged 
grandfather, the 
foxhound. 

At first their 
faces were blunt 
and heavy, and 
to turn over and 
exquisite softness, 



308 


DOGTOWN 


and the prettily rounded paws and fore legs looked 
as if tliey were encased in silky mousquetaire 
gloves, while the pads on the soles were full and 
pink, and seemed by far too delicate to be used 
as shoes. Cleaner, sweeter little things it would 
be impossible to imagine, for as soon as Happy 
finished feeding and polishing number six, she 
would begin again with number one. 

When they were two weeks old Happy gradu- 
ally took more exercise. The pups gained their 
footing and began to shuffle about, so Baldy de- 
vised a day nursery where they might have a 
change and sunlight, as well as give the nursery 
kennel a chance to be aired and swept every day. 
This day nursery consisted of four wide boards, 
about four feet long, nailed together to form a 
bottomless box. It was light enough for Anne 
to move it about easily, according to whether a 
sunny or a shady spot was desirable ; this also 
secured a fresh grass carpet at all times, when 
the ground was dry. 

No sooner were the pups allowed to leave the 
kennel than Jack Waddles came from the south 
piazza, where he had been moping and showing 
all the symptoms of a severe case of that painful 
but not fatal disease called “nose out of joint,” 
and made himself not only their guardian, but 


THE SIXLETS 


309 


almost foster-mother. At first Happy seemed to 
suspect his motives, but they soon came to an 
understanding, and it was a regulation thing for 
her to go for her morning exercise as soon as he 
came from the house. Not only would Jack get 
into the pen and quiet the pups if they felt lonely, 
but he often gave them their morning bath as well ; 



and Anne had both Miss Jule and Mr. Hugh as 
witnesses to the fact that he once washed the 
Avhole six, one by one, moving each into a dif- 
ferent part of the enclosure as he finished it, then 
collected them, and cuddled them to sleep, when 
their mother had remained away over long, and 
they were yelping. 

One pup, a serious looking little chap, with 
the longest ears of all, and a quaint, old-fashioned 


BIO DOGTOWN V 

hound face, was his favourite, and he would nose 
him out of the day nursery, take him to a sunny 
place, and there mount guard over him, lying nose 
to nose, with an expression of mingled love and 
pride, so that in these days Jack was always called 
Big Brother. 

“ I wonder if Happy will try to take them into 
the cooler the same as she did Jack and Jill?” 
said Anne to Miss Jule one day, when she was 
telling her of some newly discovered wonder in 
the pups. 

“Not at this season of the year; she is more 
likely to search out an oven for them. Where 
are they? I see they are not in their day nur- 
sery.” 

“ Then Tommy must have taken them out and 
forgotten them, for they can’t climb over the board 
yet; at least I think not,” said Anne, running 
hither and thither. They were not in the kennel, 
or any of the piazzas, neither back of the lilac 
hedge, nor in any of the many places that the dogs 
choose for sunning themselves. Tommy stoutly 
denied that he had taken them out, but added, 
“ I shouldn’t think they would have liked to stay 
where you put them this morning, for it was right 
under the edge of the big apple tree, and every 
minute apples fell down plunk.” 


THE SIXLETS 


311 


A look in the day nursery proved this to be 
perfectly true, for it contained half a dozen sizable 
apples. 

Anne was worried, for though it was now cer- 
tain that the pups had gotten out by themselves, 
no one had seen either Happy or her family. 

“ They are safe enough somewhere, though it is 
hard to tell just where she has taken them,” said 
Miss Jule. “Happy evidently was not satisfied 
with the location of the nursery to-day, and she 
is teaching you a lesson. I don’t blame her, 
either ; for you left them under a cannonade of 
apples, in a sharp draught, as well.” 

Anne’s father and mother, Baldy, and also 
Mary Anne came out and joined the hunt, Anne 
even insisting that Baldy should pull out some of 
the stones where the entrance to Jack and Jill’s 
cooling house had been. 

After a while the elders grew tired, and went 
into the garden-house where Anne’s mother often 
brewed tea these cool afternoons, for, as she said. 
Happy would soon come for her supper, and then 
they could trace the pups. 

This was too inactive a method to suit Anne 
and Tommy, so they continued to rummage in 
every nook and corner that was big enough to 
hold a hen’s egg. Suddenly they set up a shout 


312 


DOGTOWN 


at the same time, and the tea drinkers hurrying 
out beheld a funny sight. There were several 
hot-bed frames set against the stone wall. In the 
spring they were used for forcing early vegetables, 
and starting the flower seeds, while a few plants 
remained in them here and there. One part where 
the sun shone brightest had been cleared arid 
sown with the fall planting of pansies, which were 
just above ground. In this, surrounded by the 
sixlets, sat Happy! The sixlets were also hav- 
ing afternoon tea, with their fat little stomachs 
resting on the hot earth that their mother had 
thoroughly scratched up to make it the softer for 
them. 

“Well, I think what I said has come true,” said 
Miss Jule, leading the general laugh in which 



THE SIXLETS 


313 


Anne’s mother joined rather feebly, on account of 
the destruction of the pansies. “ Happy seems to 
have chosen the nearest approach to an oven that 
she could find. See, Anne, there is one underneath 
all the others, the pup with the dark ear, and that 
poor thing always seems to be underneath. What 
is her name? ” 

“ We haven’t named them yet, but we are going 
to to-morrow, because it will be their three weeks 
old birthday. Oh, do look quick at that one with 
the black and tan head, she is really scratching 
her ear with lier hind paw, the darling ! ” 

All this time Waddles was acting in a most 
strange manner. He had sometimes played with 
Jack and Jill, always came when they cried or 
seemed in trouble, and literally mounted guard 
over the nursery kennel, from out of his fastness 
under the cellar door. But now the sight of the 
sixlets seemed to fill him with terror, and he 
would not walk around that side of the house 
while they were in sight, though he continued to 
be very polite to Happy, and allow her to rob his 
food dish at her sweet will. He acted very much 
as a man might when his spouse is too busy with 
a large family to give him any attention — he 
went off with his men friends, Mr. Wolf, Quick, 
Tip, and Colin, and hunted sometimes until early 


314 


DOGTOWN 




morning, much to Anne's disgust and the spoiling 
of his well-kept appearance ; for Waddles had al- 
ways been a dandy in his bachelor days. 

These were busy times for Anne’s camera ; but, 
as her father told her, she was beginning with 
almost the most difficult things that can be photo- 
graphed — living animals, which must be caught 
by snap-shots. And in order to succeed with 
these, one must have skill as well as experience 
to know what it is possible to take and what never 
can be caught at all. 

Anne had succeeded in making a very good 
portrait of her mother sitting under the trees 
reading, also one of Waddles guarding his meat- 
dish ; though she wasted enough developer upon 
them to have served a dozen plates. Thus en- 
couraged, she began to snap wildly at the puppies, 
getting some very laughable results, and learning 
that if she was not going to spend her whole 
year’s pocket money in a single week, she must 
take better aim before she fired. 

One plate had only two pairs of back legs on it, 
another a grotesque head of Happy, who had 
been facing the camera at such close range that 
she was all head and her body dwindled away 
to nothing. Another one, of the puppies gath- 
ered around their dish learning to drink, was 


THE SIXLETS 


315 


a hazy mass of wagging tails, and so on ; but 
the oddest picture of all was of Mr. Hugh bowing 
to Miss Letty as they met him on the road. Why 
it was no one could tell, but it made him look 
so like a jumping-jack that no one could look 
at it without laughing ; that is, no one but Mr. 
Hugh, who flushed up and said that Anne had 
been cheated in the lens. 

“No, it’s a good eye; father says so,” put in 
matter-of-fact Tommy, who usually championed 
Anne and her possessions. “ It just saw you that 
way and put it down.” 

“ If other people see me that way, I don’t won- 
der that they always make fun of me, and don’t 
like me,” said Mr. Hugh, looking unthinkingly 
toward where Miss Letty was playing tennis with 
Anne and a good-looking college fellow named 
Varley who was a chum of Pinkie Scott’s big 
brother ; for Mr. Hugh was too practical and slow 
to take a joke quickly, which was the one defect 
that kept him from being altogether charming. 

“ I don’t think looks matters much. If you just 
like things, you see ’em all right. I loved Lily 
dog, but she was really ever so homely, Anne says, 
lots worse than your picture, and I kept Miss 
Letty for my sweetheart all that week the poison 
ivy made her eyes little and buried her nose,” he 


316 


DOGTOWN 


added, swelling with boastful pride at his fidelity. 
Thus did Tommy manage to alternately warm 
and chill the friendship between his two friends. 

* * ^ ^ * 

At three weeks the pups were not only fas- 

cinating from their baby ways but for their 
intelligence as well ; and in the matter of points, 
Squire Burley pronounced tliem quite remarkable 
for their age. Miss Jule adding that it was a well- 
known fact that beagles developed more quickly 
than almost any other breed of dog ; while the 
fact that they could lap milk nicely was a great 
help to Happy in keeping her larder well filled, 
for catering for one pair of twins was wholly 
different from supplying three pairs. 

They had just been frisking about their dish, 
rolling and playing, when Anne and Tommy came 
out from breakfast, bent upon the important busi- 
ness of naming them. 

“ Ouch ! their teeth have come, and sharp as 
fishes’, too ! ” exclaimed Tommy, who had expe- 
rience both with fish-teeth and fish-hooks, quickly 
withdrawing an inquisitive finger. 

“ Don’t tease them,” cautioned Anne ; “if we are 
to name them, it must be done properly, so that 
they won’t feel sorry about it when they grow up. 





Naming the Pups 








V •* * 





ft 



• %*' 



: • ■•'•' . -'t Awn’' ■■' • ‘4 

• j * T '.'V. * • • ^ -li ^> 1 ; f♦^ «’ n I J ‘ 5 ^ 

. \ 4rf1 J- V N-lv , > ^ L*.J ‘^^•1 




' ■>/ 


t-i ' ^'m-' 

-*: f *. 

*v ‘ c 


V " 

*■' ■ ’• » 

« 9 

•k'*'- iT 


V 



>4 


s 


1 *• 


A I . < 211 ’ 


. I 

? j :? >' ’ • ■ 





»■ jt' 


!-;i :» "■ -^v ■ ' ■ ' ‘ 

‘s* iC^ 




. » 


?-:;-*i-::.>^.*^, r*Jfv. 

• ' ^'1 * ‘'T.f? ^ • 1 ^ 


Yi|. 






*;■* I . j 

-v' 


7 . 

ir 

•-^r Y 


..V • 4 


I ♦■• 


M’ 


-* - * 

T» I * 


1- 

A 


% 'T* * * .-• - Q - *. . 

. -'-J 

K -?S 

ft. ■.■■■^/ ■> . A . .. I . 1*^1^ 

i I ' ; ^—^HlHpiWI t 


1 * 




.<^Af 

- 1 “';■■■ 

i ^ 

*i» 

. ft 

■v^. - 

♦ + 

« 


fti^ ft 


» > 

.V.' : 


Psi- * V 


• ‘.r 


*►■ ',&•«... w.'. . ^ -‘’tkV*"; 



\ I T > ■ 


i.'> '=•-: 'v.iv v-.w'- • '• ' ■ •■ ■'■< 

, '.* I ?,' ?Vu., • . •»! d it® 

_ yA ' '^' ■ V - . tiC'. y A 


• • A«.V 

« • • » » -u '* 

% , IP^ 

,: 4- -■ 


; if 



*«h 

V 




* * • ,. 
% ^ f » ^ . T 




■ t'C 





THE SIXLETS 


319 


I want to give them real names we can call them, 
and not have them registered under one name, 
like Cadence, and always called another.” 

“Try to call them something that you can 
shorten,” said Anne’s father, stopping on his way 
to the dark house. He, too, had been lured from 
the study many times to take pictures of the 
puppies ; but he refused to show the results until 
they were properly finished. 

“We might call them after birds,” said Anne, 
who had been looking through the trees down to 
the distant meadows, where many birds were 
flocking before starting on their autumn travels. 

“Yes, let’s,” agreed Tommy, quickly. “Jay’d 
be a first-rate name for one,” he added, as one 
of those bold-talking sneak-thieves called over- 
head. 

Anne laughed, in spite of not knowing exactly 
why, saying, “ I don’t think Jay will quite do ; 
because when people are stupid and disagreeable 
at the same time, and do not know it, people often 
call them Jays.” 

Just then a sweet note came from the field, — a 
real April voice, — saying, “Spring o’ the year.” 
“ It’s a Meadow Lark,” said Anne, “ and I will 
name this dear little fellow with the even white 
face mark and black tail spot after it, and call him 


320 


DOGTOWN 


Lark for short, because I’m going to keep him for 
our very own.” 

“ Aren’t we going to keep them all ? ” pleaded 
Tommy, looking up with beseeching eyes, while 
his chin quivered. 

“Not all, and perhaps only two, one for each of 
us ; father said so last night. There are too 
many ; but we may keep them all winter, so that 
they will be strong and well-grown before they 
go to the homes Miss Jule will find for them, or 
perhaps Mr. Hugh will keep them himself.” 

“ Let’s call another Bob white, — this boy with 
the very white face,” said Anne, a moment later, 
after each pup had been held up in turn to see 
if its face suggested anything. 

“ Yes, that’ll be fine ; ’cause don’t you remember 
that one that used to come over here to feed, and 
brought the little ones one morning ? Now it’s 
my turn,” said Tommy, picking up the prettiest 
of the three females, who had lovely even tan 
markings on the head, a white nose, and the 
manners of a finished coquette. “ I’ll name her 
— I’ll name her — ” he said, hesitating, and 
looking up into the trees, as no name occurred 
to him. 

“Phoebe, Phoebe,” called that demure fly- 
catcher, balancing on the telephone wire. 


THE SIXLETS 


321 


“ Yes, I’ll call her Phoebe,” said Tommy, in a 
tone of relief ; and Anne thought it the very thing. 

“Now this one. Jack Waddles’s pet, and we will 
be through with the boys.” 

“ You name him,” said Tommy, having found 
the matter more of a puzzle than a pleasure. 

“ There is a lovely western sparrow, with a 
yellow vest and black cravat, that I’ve seen in 
the museum, and its name is Dickcissel. I’ll name 
him that, and we can call him Dick,” said Anne, 
after several more minutes spent in thinking. 
“ That makes four after birds, so we might name 
the others for something else. This one that’s all 
white but one ear spot, we could call Blanche, 
only it’s hard to say.” 

“ Lily’s nicer. I’ll let you call it after my dear 
old doggie,” said Tommy, as if conferring a great 
favour. 

“I don’t think she’s going to stay so very 
white,” replied Anne, after examining the pup’s 
coat critically. “ I think she will have black and 
brown tick marks like her grandmother.” 

“ Then call her Tiger Lily, they are all spotted,” 
cried Tommy, triumphantly, which tickled Anne 
so that she hugged him for his wit; and Tiger 
Lily the pup was, and lived to be a great 
hunter. 

T 


322 


DOGTOWN 


“Now for the last, the soft, fat, dark one. Some- 
how she reminds me of a comfortable coloured 
person. I know, we’ll call her Dinah, the very 
thing! and Di will do for short.” So the last 
pup was duly named and put down, and Anne 



proposed that they should rest their heads b}' 
wheeling up to the Hilltop Kennels to tell 
Miss Jule about the names, when Tommy, who 
was looking after the pups who had scampered 
away on being released, grasped Anne’s arm 
and pointed after them. Wonder of wonders ! 
Phoebe was holding Bob by the hind leg, while 
fat Dinah played leap-frog over his back in a 
clumsy but perfectly serious manner, doing it 
not once but many times, and she was only three 
weeks old I 


THE SIXLETS 


323 


In the matter of training and education it 
makes a deal of difference to the mother as to 
whether her family consists of few or many, and 
Anne learned many new points in dog law during 
the next few weeks. 

Happy continued to feed and wash the six- 
lets until they were about two months old, but 
she did not play with them, as she had with 
Jack and Jill, except upon rare occasions, but 
left them to teach each other and learn by ex- 
perience, while she took a nap, near by enough 
to hear if anything went Avrong, wearing when 
awake the expression of being good-naturedly 
bored. 

It was Big Brother who threw bones in the air 
for them, and gave them their first taste of meat 
by bringing home a young woodchuck, and drag- 
ging it into their midst ; when they sprang upon 
it with a fierceness that seemed almost to frighten 
gentle Jack, and a tug-of-war ensued in earnest, 
which ended in the woodchuck’s tail giving way 
and Dinah turning a back somersault, it was 
saucy Phoebe who dragged away the prize, and the 
others licked their lips with gusto. 

“ Never mind,” said Miss Jule, “ when it comes 
time for the hunting Happy will let no one teach 
them but herself.” — . 


324 


DOGTOWN 



If Jack and Jill had been time eaters, what 
could be said of the sixlets ? Not only did Anne 
and Tommy spend almost all their hours out of 
school playing with the pups on the sunny slope, 
but their father had cut his chin several times from 
watching them out of his dressing-room window 
when he was shaving ; their mother sewed the 
buttons on the wrong side of Anne’s pinafore, and 
Mary Anne poured kerosene into her lap instead 
of into the lamp, from the same cause. 

The Hilltop people also were interested, in 
spite of their many dogs; and Miss Jule, Miss 



*. 

-'♦ll 

' ‘V - 


•'i. • 

f f 

% ^ * ■ * 
^»!r 1 " • 

• * • 

' 

. T 






• « * 




4 



.- .• s . ." 

^•-•v.^' ;v.- - . 

• \ ’• ' * ■’•''' 'i)i^-*‘*' -’ii ‘‘''‘'imB 

■-,A' i 'i*;^'**'*' 

• \V V . . ■•‘■’•'v ' ^ 

- • - • i_ • • 1 ♦ -f ' ^ -Cf] 

M -4 «; 

- * ' » *■ • - * 

" y V* ^ A •- 
--** • " 









IL*^ 


'.S 


••4 *• 


•rMr . . ■•vyi 

^ * 


-fe'-.A Pi MM.., ( 

, ■ 'f : '\.'*"v' iJ'? •;■*• 


\ k«JMi 

,» V" V '■<• ■ * ' ‘^' ' it A • 


' ^ -4 • - ,4 ® 







On Guard. 



THE SIXLETS 


327 


Letty, Mr. Hugh, and Squire Burley all happened 
in together the afternoon that Anne’s father had 
finished printing and mounting his puppy pic- 
tures, and they begged so hard for copies of 
them, that he said he should have to make them 
into an album and let them draw lots for it. 
While Anne begged for a pair to frame, one of 
the sixlets all together, four in a basket, and two 
on the garden bench, and the other of Dick, Bob- 
white, Dinah, and Phmbe in a wheelbarrow, with 
Jack Waddles standing guard like a veritable 
policeman. 

“ I like this picture best,” said Mr. Hugh, pick- 
ing up a small photograph of Miss Letty feeding 
Miss Jule’s kennel dogs ; “ it’s very lifelike.” 

“ Why, I took that,” said Anne, delighted; “ and 
I’ve done a lot more pictures of the kennels be- 
side.” 

“I’ll tell you what to do,” said Miss Jule. 
“Take all the Dogtown pictures you can, no 
larger than this, mind, and we’ll make them into 
albums and give them to Mrs. Carr to sell, to- 
gether with the knick-knacks she makes, up at 
Robin Hood’s Inn to help along her fund, and I’ll 
pay for the materials.” 

“ It will be great fun,” agreed Anne; “ but what 
is her fund for ? I haven’t heard of it.” 


328 


DOGTOWN 


Miss Jule waited for Mr. Hugh to speak; but 
he turned his back and stared out of the win- 
dow, so she answered : “ Mrs. Carr wants to have 
a little money every year to help what she calls 
‘some decent puir bodies,’ who have dogs that 
they love, and can feed, but for whom the license 
money is a stumbling-block. 

“You all know how near she came to losing 
Laddie, her collie ; and really might have if 
Letty’s bicycle hadn’t providentially broken down, 
Anne lost her way in the back held, and the 
barbed wire fence been where it was. So Mr. 
Hugh lets her sell little things she knits to the 
picnic people who go to the Inn for tea, and he 
will see that she only pays for worthy dogs.” 

Mr. Hugh expected to hear Miss Letty’s ring- 
ing laugh, but he didn’t. 

“ Oh, I hope I shall be able to make a great 
many albums,” said Anne, stretching wide her 
arms to express size, as she used to, when, as a 
little girl, she opened her arms to the sky and 
said she wished she could hug all outdoors. 

“ I’m sorry Lily’s dead. I’d have let you take 
lier and me together, and you could have charged 
a lot,” said Tommy, innocently; and then added 
at random, in the polite silence that followed, 
“ Say, Miss Letty, ‘ if you loved anything, would 


THE SIXLETS 


329 


you care if it looked ugly or like a jumping-jack 
in a picture ? ” 

“ Why, of course not,” said Miss Letty, inno- 
cently, not looking in Mr. Hugh’s direction, which 
was well, as she might have guessed, for he was 
as red as a beet, being the only one who under- 
stood at what Tommy was driving. 

Miss Jule, scenting something, suggested that 
they go out and present the pups with the 
collars that Mr. Hugh had bought for them but 
had seemingly forgotten. This pulled him to- 
gether again, and he handed Anne a parcel con- 
taining six dainty chamois-lined collars. Three 
were red for the girls, and three blue for the boys, 
and each was ornamented with a pair of small 
round nickel bells. 

‘‘ How lovely of you ! ” said Anne, going up to 
give him a frank kiss of thanks, a hand on each 
shoulder. 

“ They’ll keep the dogs from straying away and 
getting lost. I always put bells on my hounds’ 
first collars,” he said, quite at his ease again. 

“ By the way,” he added, stooping, “ what are 
those letters printed on the dish the pups are 
feeding from ? ” 

“ ‘ Drink, Puppy, Drink.’ They come made that 
way ; and I think the pups understand, for they 


330 


DOGTOWN 


do it all day long,” and this time Mr. Hugh joined 
in the laugh. 

That evening when Anne went to put away the 
dog pictures, much to her vexation she could not 
find the one of Miss Letty feeding the kennel 
dogs, and she so wanted to give it to Mr. Hugh. 



CHAPTER XIII 


BEN UNCAS'S LAST HUNT 

One Saturday Anne discovered that Waddles 
was very low in his mind. It was after a week 
when she had been busy at school, and had 
devoted her afternoons and evenings to taking 
and developing more or less successful dog pic- 
tures, to make the albums in aid of Mrs. Carr’s 
“ fund,” so that she had paid less attention than 
usual to the house fourfoots. 

At first Anne thought that Waddles felt neg- 
lected, and was a bit sulky ; but as petting did 
not mend matters, she looked about for some 
other cause. It could not be that the sixlets 
bothered him, for they now lived in separate 
quarters, and had a garden to themselves ; and 
Mr. Hugh had secured Tiger Lily, Dinah, and 
Bob white to add to the beagle pack he was form- 
ing, when they should be old enough, much to 
the relief of Anne’s parents; for the prospect of 
six puppies cutting their second teeth upon any 
331 


332 


DOGTOWN 


and everything they could seize was certainly 
rather appalling. 

Fortunately, neither Anne nor Tommy objected 
to halving the pups with Mr. Hugh, for they 
could visit them at any time, and though his 
dogs were obliged to obey, and to be very tidy 
and good, they were allowed to spend their even- 
ings lying in rows by the enormous fireplace in 
the hall, and always sat in a group about his chair 
when he dined or breakfasted alone. 

Happy, having weaned the pups, had seemingly 
given them entirely into the guardianship of Jack 
Waddles, who was so watchful and motherly in 
his care of them that Miss Letty said his name 
should be changed to Jane, and that he should 
wear a nurse’s cap and apron. But Anne, who 
understood him, loved him for his gentleness, and 
was glad to have one stay-at-home dog, that, 
though he knew and liked the hunting in a way, 
did not run himself to a skeleton over it, for the 
cool weather had set in, and Happy’s voice could 
be heard far and wide, telling of her running abil- 
ity; while upon more than one occasion she stayed 
out so late at night that she did not have to get up 
for breakfast. 

Strange to say. Waddles suddenly stopped hunt- 
ing with her ; of course he was an old dog now. 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


333 


but why he should run one week and then stop 
puzzled Anne. She felt his nose; it was moist 
and cool. She examined his paws ; there were 
neither cuts or thorns visible. His coat was well- 
kept and flexible, — a rough, brittle coat tells its 
own tale of illness both in dogs and horses, — 
likewise, his eyes were bright, yet he ate but 
little, and lay all day silently guarding a large 
accumulation of ungnawed bones. 

“Miss Jule says ‘if a horse seems all right, yet 
doesn’t eat, look at his teetli.’ Perhaps it may be 
the same with dogs ; anyway, I will look,” said 
Anne to herself. 

At the first attempt Waddles resisted and 
growled a little ; then he changed his mind. 
Sure enough, the tooth back of the right canine 
was not only broken, but quite loose, and the 
gum red and swollen. 

“You poor Waddlekins! Of course you can’t 
chew without getting a dreadful pain ! Baldy 
shall pull the old thing out, and it will all be 
over in a minute,” said Anne, soothingly. Wad- 
dles sat perfectly still, looking out of the side of 
his eyes at his mistress. He suspected something, 
and yet he had no experience in tooth-drawing to 
give him a hint of what was coming. 

Anne first found Baldy, then going to her father 


J 


334 DOGTOWN 

borrowed a little pair of pincers that he had kept 
in a drawer by his desk, ever since they had 
done duty on her easy first teeth, and would soon 
do the same for Tommy. Then she called 
Waddles to come to the garden where Baldy 
was working. After thinking for a few minutes, 
he obeyed, walking very slowly on tiptoe, his 
gait when either suspicious or reluctant. When 
Baldy tried to hold him firmly between his 
knees. Waddles instantly freed himself from 
collar and all, with the single backward jerk 
of the head for which he was celebrated; but 
the next moment seated himself quietly by Anne, 
and without being held, allowed Baldy to pull out 
the tooth. 

An expression of surprise, quickly followed by 
one of relief, crossed his mobile face. He choked 
and coughed a little, then straightway under- 
stood the whole affair, took a drink from the 
birds’ bath-tub under the big syringa bush, and 
walking straight back to what Tommy called 
“Waddles’s bone-garden” unearthed a particu- 
larly ripe and delicious beef rib and began to gnaw 
it with relish, his tooth and low spirits having 
disappeared together. 

The next day Waddles had a long call from 
Mr. Wolf, Miss Jule’s old St. Bernard, and after 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


335 



the usual pleasant exchange of sniffs and other 
greetings the two adjourned to the south side 
of the orchard wall, which, topping a slope, com- 
manded a wide stretch of country. Here, lying 
back to back so that eye, ear, and nose might 
have as wide a range as possible, they proceeded 
to “ watch out ” for game. 


Mr. Wolf, otherwise knoAvn as Ben Uncas, and 
Waddles were the leading members of a curious 
sort of club that hunted fur, and, as a usual thing, 
let feathers severely alone. This club now num- 
bered six members of various sizes and breeds, and 
when the queerly assorted pack started off for a 
day or night outing, the House People of Dog- 
town, hearing the babel of cries, said, “ Ben Uncas 
& Co. are on the war-path ! ” 


336 


DOGTOWN 


Until this particular season the club had con- 
sisted of the St. Bernard, its leader, Waddles, 
Colin, Tip, and Quick ; now Hamlet had been in- 
itiated, and was one of the most daring members, 
especially in the matter of sometimes swimming 
down even the web-footed muskrats, who sought 
safety by taking to the water. 

The animals that the club hunted ranged 
in size from meadow-mice, moles, chipmunks, 
muskrats, rabbits, skunks, wookchucks, foxes, 
coons, and occasionally a rare and wily opos- 
sum, while these native animals were liberally 
punctuated by an assortment of cats. Now this 
matter of .cat hunting by Ben Uncas & Co. has 
a very dreadful sound, and requires a word of 
explanation. 

It had its origin in what some shiftless sort 
of House People called “ their tender feelings ” 
in this way. Any number of people living in 
the farms and on the country edge of the village 
kept cats which they fed and housed after a 
fashion, but when kittens were born, instead of 
humanely destroying those for which they could 
not care, they simply shifted the responsibility to 
tlie poor kittens, allowing them to grow up as 
best they might and provide for themselves. 

Those that did not starve to death soon formed 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


337 


a roving band of feline bandits of every age, sex, 
and colour, that haunted deserted barns, remote 
haymows, and even hollow trees in the deep 
woods, living by preying upon song and game 
birds, rabbits, and barnyard fowls. 

Waddles’s fierce old enemy. Tiger, the miller’s 
cat, had been adopted from this race, and so con- 
stantly had Waddles, as well as Mr. Wolf and the 
smaller dogs, heard the cry of “ cats ! ” and been 
called to hunt the enemy from a chicken coop or 
an orchard full of nestlings, that they regarded 
wildcats as lawful hunting. 

One thing, however, was a proof of the wonder- 
ful intelligence of tlie hunters ; they knew per- 
fectly well the difference between the pet cats of 
the neighbourhood and the wild tribe, and if, as 
happened but very rarely, in the heat of the run 
they made a mistake, after one experience and its 
punishment they never again bore the victim 
home as a trophy, as they would a woodchuck, 
muskrat, or weasel, but hid it carefully in bushes 
or tall grass, and pretended that the chase was a 
failure. But when the kill was satisfactory, no 
matter who was the catcher, Mr. Wolf always 
took it home to Miss Jule, who rewarded the 
hunters with petting and a plate of tidbits. 

Their hunting methods were also peculiar to 


338 


DOGTOWN 


tliemselves, and the labours were divided quite 
equally among the six. 

Waddles and Tip, the little spaniel, had the 
keenest noses and the best minds for planning 
strategy. Quick, the fox terrier, who was all that 
his name implied, added to the endurance and 
bound of a collection of steel springs, was the 
explorer of small holes and the pioneer of attacks 
upon burrows that must be dug out or chinks 
between rocks that must be explored. 

It was Quick, also, who spurred the flagging 
energy of the larger dogs in tiresome runs, 
though often to their hurt, as will be seen, and 
had generally managed to lead his friends into 
the few misdeeds of which they were guilty. 



BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


339 


Though Mr. AVolf appeared to be the leader 
because of his size and heavy weight, he was 
really quite subject to Quick’s commands, and 
the most confiding and intimate relations existed 
between the pair. They shared both bed and 
board, and it was a study in dog love to see the 
expression of impertinence that Quick usually wore 
change to one of complete adoration as he gazed 
up in the face of his big friend, standing on tiptoe 
to lick his nose. 

As to Colin, the big, blundering red setter, with 
the beautiful eyes and the silky hair, his use was 
as general encourager when the hunt flagged ; for 
though in the course of a long life, and he lived 
into his fifteenth year, he never caught anything 
wilder than a frightened chicken or disabled 
rabbit, yet he was never discouraged, starting off 
each day with the joy of first experience, and if 
the party caught nothing, he would retrieve a stick 
of decayed wood, a bit of old leather, or even a 
spruce cone and carry it to Miss Jule on his own 
account. 

Upon one occasion, being left in the rear by 
the others, he came upon a wood-duck that had 
lain dead for some time in the pond meadow. 
After rolling on it very thoroughly in the manner 
of dogs and wolves, to identify themselves with 


J 


340 DOGTOWN 

their finds in the noses of other dogs, he suc- 
ceeded, after much difficulty, in bearing it home 
and into the dining room during a company tea, 
where he laid it at Miss Jule’s feet. He had such 
an expression of bringing a gift worth having 
upon his face, that also wore a broad grin, that 
no one, even among the guests, had the heart to 
scold him, but politely held their breaths and noses 
while Miss Jule called Colin “a good fellow,” and 
escorted him out, accompanied by the duck in a 
dust-pan. She also allowed him the crowning joy 
of burying it, which he did as a matter of course, 
instead of casting it ignobly on the refuse heap, 
which would have not only hurt his feelings, but 
have given him the extra trouble of retrieving 
it a second time, and so prolonged the odour. 

When Ben Uncas & Co. hunted ground beasts 
their methods were wholly different from their 
pursuit of tree climbers. Of ground beasts the 
woodchuck and muskrat seemed the most interest- 
ing quarry, and of climbers the breed of vagrant 
wildcats and the coons of Pine Ridge were the 
favourites. The native tailless bob-cat or red lynx 
was now so rare as to be, like the rattlesnake, 
almost a hearsay beast of imagination, seen only 
by the people who, carrying brown jugs, took a 
short cut through the Den woods on their way 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


341 


home from the cider-mill, and paused to rest on 
the way. 

There were many old fields and orchards be- 
tween Happy Hall and the Hilltop Kennels, and 
when Ben Uncas & Co. organized for hunting, 
three years before this time, there was barely a 
five-acre lot without its woodchuck family, while 
W addles’s old bugaboo, the skunk, called scent cat 
by its comrades through fearsome politeness, in- 
habited stone fences and tumble-down cellars at 
will. In fact, one pair were so bold as to raise a 
litter under the henhouse at Pinkie Scott’s, in order 
to be conveniently near a poultry and egg market, 
while Pinkie petted and fed the little things, mis- 
taking them for queer black and white kittens, 
until one evening, when Hans Sachs was with her, 
their mother came back and objected. Then Pink- 
ie’s illusion and the skunk family were dispelled 
together. 

Of course people trapped skunks, and they were 
more or less hunted by other dogs, but to the 
method of Ben Uncas & Co. belonged the honour 
of having freed the entire hillside of the pests, 
even though as individuals they had often been 
obliged to retire to private life in consequence. 

Anne and Tommy had never been able to fol- 
low a skunk hunt closely enough to see exactly^ 


V 


342 DOGTOWN 

how it began, but one thing was certain, it was 
always Quick who, jumping upon the animal’s 
back, gave the sudden shake to the neck that 
settled the question just as he did with a rat, at 
the same time taking extra care not to be bitten ; 
for to be bitten by a skunk is one of the “ mustn’t 
he’s ” of dog law, and a calamity they are careful 
to avoid, while they are quite reckless about the 
more powerful chisel teeth of both woodchuck 
and muskrat. 

The woodchucks were less easily exterminated 
even though they are more abroad by day, for not 
only are their homes more difficult to reach, but 
when living in a colony they usually post sentinels 
at the entrances of their burrows. Several times, 
when the settlements in the old fields and orchards 
had been scattered, new families from other places 
seemed to move into the empty burrows. Then 
again woodchucks hole up in middle autumn and 
stay wholly out of reach until spring, so they are 
never driven to take the risks during the hard 
winter months that drive so many of the wood 
fourfoots recklessly into the open for food. 

A wily old woodchuck is a hard animal to 
chase, clumsy though it is, it knows so many 
twists and turns and paths back to its burrow. It 
is a still harder one for a small dog to kill, owing 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


343 


to the toughness of its skin, the layer of fat that 
covers its vital parts at most seasons, and the 
ferocity of its attack when at bay and thoroughly 
aroused, its nose being really its most vulnerable 
spot. 

The tactics of Ben Uncas & Co. were these, — 
when the party started out at random the condi- 
tions of the day for sport were usually left for 
Waddles and Tip to decide, as they had the most 
discriminating noses of the lot. Mr. Wolf knew 
the scent of wild beasts on general principles, and 
Quick had cat on the brain to such an extent that 
if a trail ran anywhere near a treejie would jump 
at conclusions, and so often went astray. 

A woodchuck chase belongs chiefly to still hunt- 
ing, and requires waiting ability. After the dogs 
agreed together that the scent said, for instance, 
that in the upper orchard, where there was but a 
single family, the old folks were out foraging, 
they divided, Mr. Wolf and Quick following the 
trail of the elders, in a silent, leisurely way, while 
Waddles, Tip, and, during the last few months, 
Hamlet, would sit motionless and wait well back 
of the burrow openings. Waddles generally choos- 
ing the main entrance, while Colin roved about 
afleld, sniffing here and there, chasing grasshoppers 
and playing the part of unconcerned idler to per- 


344 


DOGTOWN 



Colin. 

fection, because that was what he really was. To 
Colin the hunting meant play, but to the others 
it was as serious a business as if their food de- 
pended on it; hence it will be seen that they 
were true sportsmen. 

If things combined rightly, after a time the 
more or less young cubs of the year in the bur- 
row would wake from their nap, and after the 
manner of young things, finding their parents 
absent, would set about to explore, one by one 
cautious heads appearing above ground. Wood- 
chucks are very clever about making the entrances 
to their homes. They are seldom in perfectly 



BEN UNCAS'S LAST HUNT 


845 


level ground, but are protected on one side by a 
hillock, old corn hill, stone heap, or at least by 
the mound of earth thrown from the burrow itself, 
so that when the animal peers out it cannot at 
once be seen from the rear. 

No sooner did the young woodchucks get 
their heads fairly above ground, than, spying 
Colin skirting the field in his gambols, their at- 
tention was riveted and their curiosity aroused, 
for with these, as with many wild things, it is 
difficult to say which is the stronger instinct, 
caution or curiosity. In a moment more two, 
three, or oftentimes four young woodchucks 
would be seen seated sometimes a foot away 
from the hole, all backed toward it as for 
protection, their eyes fastened upon the distant 
dog. 

Often at this critical moment the old ones, 
sniffing danger in the wind, would start to return, 
only to be met by Mr. Wolf and Quick waiting- 
in some likely nook, who, though they could not 
altogether conquer the experienced pair, would 
manage to hold them at bay and make them very 
late in getting home. 

Meanwhile Waddles waited at his post, alert, 
one paw raised like his attitude before the spring 
and rapid digging in mole hunting. As soon 


846 


DOGTOWN 


as the cubs were well clear of the burrow, he 
pounced upon the bunch, trying to land be- 
tween them and the opening, giving a call to his 
comrades that evidently told them what to do, 
for sometimes they came tumbling up, and a gen- 
eral scrimmage ensued at close quarters, and 
at others the bunch would scatter over the field, 
followed by Waddles, while the other dogs did 
not come to the attack until the woodchucks 
had doubled and were on the home stretch. In 
such cases the results were usually two victims, 
one of which was generally either buried for 
future use or left on the field for a second trip, 
while the other was borne proudly home intact 
by Mr. Wolf, with head held high and important, 
ambling gate. In fact, no less strong a dog could 
carry even a two-months-old woodchuck, some- 
times a full mile over stone fences and other 
obstruction, without at least partly dragging it 
along the ground. 

After the kill Tip, Hamlet, and Colin often lost 
interest and skirmished about on their own ac- 
count for a while before returning; but Waddles 
and Quick invariably followed Mr. Wolf, and 
shared Miss Jule’s praise, and the plate of tid- 
bits that were a part of it. 



The Reward. 


i 







BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


349 


When, however, a tree animal was scented, the 
hunt was both noisy and rapid. Either Waddles 
or Quick would pick up the trail of one of the 
bandit cats, and give tongue according to their 
vocal abilities. Quick’s being a most piercing 
and unearthly scream. Then the oddly assorted 
pack would start off, noses to the ground, bark- 
ing, baying, yelping as if Dogtown itself was 
hunting the great phantom cat of whom all 
naughty puppies live in dread, whose grin is 
sometimes seen on the full moon on foggy nights, 
and whose trail always either leads to water or 
rises in the air. 

If the cat thus pursued should happen to be at 
rest when the trail is discovered, it is soon on foot 
again, spurred by the approaching noise. If in 
the open, it makes for the nearest trees ; for cats 
are poor long distance runners, their specialties 
being leaping and climbing. 

A cat of experience and steady nerve, having 
gained a medium-sized tree, will retreat to the 
upper branches, secure a good perch, and there 
sit and wait indefinitely without looking down^ for 
the cat who looks down upon a pack of jumping, 
yelping dogs is lost, being either confused into 
letting go her grip and dropping, or else startled 
into jumping squirrel-like for the branches of an 


350 


DOGTOWN 


adjoining tree which may bend to the earth with 
her weight. 

If the cat, when treed, does neither of these 
things, then the hunters divide forces and pre- 
pare to wait. Mr. Wolf, seating himself a few 
feet from the tree, where he can see well up into 
the branches (for in tree work sight supplements 
scent in a great degree) begins a monotonous and 
incessant barking. Quick going backward a 
couple of yards makes rapid runs at the tree- 
trunk, managing to scramble up six or eight feet 
bi^fore dropping back, or sometimes, if the branches 
are thick and low, landing securely upon one of 
them. Tip and Hamlet wait at a little distance 
in case the cat tries a long leap and run,* while 
Waddles turns strategist and disappears, that is, 
as far as the cat is concerned. Really he is crouch- 
ing close against the tree-trunk directly under the 
cat’s perch, silent, with glistening eyes, and, in 
spite of rheumatism, all his catapult force gathered 
in the muscles of his back like a bent bow, for in 
every chase Waddles lives over his youth and his 
feud with the miller’s cat. 

On goes Mr. Wolf’s hypnotic chanting, echoed 
occasionally by Tip or carried into a banshee 
scream by Hamlet, who finds time hanging heavy 
to his impatient feet. At last the cat looks down. 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


351 


hesitates whether to climb higher or risk a long 
jump; confused by the noise, it does half of each, 
and as a result drops directly at the root of the 
tree. Waddles’s back straightens, — there is one 
bandit cat the less. Then the good news is passed 
quickly on by the gossips of Birdland, all a-twitter 
in the neighbouring trees. 

* * * ^ * 

Such hunting was wearing to a heavy dog past 
middle age like Mr. Wolf, and after each run 
that season he rested longer, and felt less appe- 
tite for his good dinner and go-to-bed bone. 

In dog friendships, like those of people, there 
should be a certain amount of physical as well as 
mental equality, or one will lead the other beyond 
his strength, and this is what Quick did to his 
dear friends, as both Mr. Wolf and Waddles would 
often have continued to doze under the stone 
wall, and let certain signs of game pass unnoticed 
if Quick had not literally burrowed them out and 
nagged them into action, saying, both Miss Jule 
and Anne suspected, many taunting things that no 
old dog likes to hear from his juniors. 

Miss Jule noticed that Mr. Wolf was growing 
rather thin, and she tried to keep him more with 
her, coaxing him to lie in the hall of afternoons. 


352 


DOGTOWN 


or by her desk, as he used to even in his youth, 
before Quick had come to win his friendship and 
urge him to the hunting for which he was not 
intended. But the nervous, tireless fox terrier 
was so persistent, crawling and fawning before 
the St. Bernard, or even pawing him awake when 
he slept, that the poor old fellow had little peace. 
Finally Miss Jule resolved to give Quick to 
some children living away in another county, 
who wanted exactly such an active pet, but, as it 
chanced, she had put it off over long. 

Early in Octobet a heavy rain flooded the low, 
river meadows, and turned the muskrat hunting- 
grounds of Ben Uncas and Co., that before had 
been merely wet here and there, into a wide pool, 
where the dogs shorter of leg than Mr. Wolf and 
Colin were obliged to paddle along. There were 
already one or two of the muskrats’ winter homes 
in these meadows. These huts looked like low 
stacks of coarse hay and reeds, and the odour of 
the builders was sufficient to provoke the dogs 
to attack them, even though the entrances ran 
under ground for some way before opening under 
water in the river bank, something after the 
manner of beaver runs, though the beaver’s house 
is in the water itself, not on partly submerged 
meadow land. Because the muskrat is a poor 


• ' ,3 




" . !*> 


.1 


>r 





•ys 







<1^ 

> 


r ^ 

■ 4 T. 

./ ♦ A *- 

-' ~ - 

- 




.' *■** ,#?* . 4. 




* \ 


i 



^ V 



r *• i 




^ « 


►• > 

> 


V, .,-yrfH’ 





4 * s 




V .‘U) 


■ix '^■: 


5» 

i‘J r ■« ,.'. 

• 


• *• 

. i 

u<t' 

} - ■ 




-4 

• 

• 

#■• V 

^VioE-. 7.V 

• «• ’ 

• .1 

j3.Ji ■:^i 


L^*s JX - *i- 

^ i‘I>?S',(r-5.%! 











Ben Uncas. 







BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


35o 


runner, it trusts itself on dry land as little as 
possible, and the dogs hunted it either by digging 
it from its burrows, the only way in which they 
had real success, or by swimming after it. This 
last might do well enough as sport for water dogs 
on summer evenings, but it was poor work for 
elderly Mr. Wolf and Colin, with the autumn 
chill in the air. As for Waddles, he was wise in 
his own generation, and would no longer even 
cross a brook where he was obliged to wet more 
than the tips of his toes, and even did that with a 
very staccato tread. So when the others spent 
afternoons splashing about the muskrats’ huts, he, 
dry and comfortable, merely sat upon a low bridge 
close by, talked to himself, and occasionally bayed 
advice. But then. Waddles was a genius ! 

Miss Jule was away the first day of this unwise 
hunting. When she came home she found ]\Ir. 
Wolf more tired still, and she was fairly shocked 
to see how lean his body was, now that the thick, 
long hair that had given it bulk was pasted close 
by mud and water. 

She had him carefully dried by the kitchen 
fire, well brushed out, fed him herself with warm 
stew, and put him to bed in a box stall deep with 
straw covered with a horse blanket for a bed, 
thinking to keep him prisoner a few days for his 


356 


DOGTOWN 


own good and give him the necessary exercise 
herself. 

The next day was bright and warm for the 
season, and Miss J ule thought that a sun bath on 
the south piazza would do Ben worlds of good. 
When she went for him he whined with joy, 
licked her hands, and looked into her face with 
old-time fervour ; hut when they started together 
toward the house, he lagged behind, took a few 
steps, lay down, then struggled to his feet and 
seemed to force himself to cover the distance, sink- 
ing down on the mat his mistress placed in the 
porch corner with a sigh, and closed his eyes. Miss 
Jule plainly saw that Ben Uncas was very ill, and 
wishing to take no risks, she telephoned for a skilled 
veterinarian from the town half a dozen miles away. 
In another hour the quick trot of his horses’ hoofs 
sounded on the drive. A good veterinary surgeon 
who loves his work, always comes quickly, for he 
knows the sorrow of helplessly watching the pain 
of an animal who cannot put his needs into the 
words House People can understand. 

He took temperature and pulse, felt here and 
listened there, and said poor Ben had distemper 
from wasted strength and drinking ditch water 
when on the run. He said Mr. Wolf was very 
ill, but not, he thought, past help. He must go 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


357 


back to the box stall where he could have both 
air and shelter, and leaving medicine to be faith- 
fully given, he went away, promising to come 
again at night. 

For a time Ben seemed brighter and walked 
back to the stable without resting on the way, 
took a long drink of water, swallowed his medi- 
cine without a struggle, and fell into a doze. 

In the afternoon he waked, tried to drink the 
soup Miss Jule brought him, and could not, 
neither could he swallow water, though he grate- 
fully licked a bit of ice his mistress gave him. 
Then when pain seized him and his sunken eyes 
told of suffering, she put hot cloths upon his 
stomach and gently rubbed his head which laid 
in her lap. 

The surgeon came at evening, looked sober, 
but said to keep on with the medicine, and that 
Ben would probably improve the next morning. 

That night the horses in the stable saw an odd 
sight — fat, middle-aged Miss Jule, buttoned to the 
chin in an old ulster with a crimson wool Tam O’ 
Shanter cap of Betty’s fastened on askew, was 
sitting on an upturned pail in the box stall be- 
side her sick friend, while for company, Martin, 
the reliable, slept on a heap of hay in a distant 
corner, wrapped in a carriage robe. 


358 


DOGTOWN 


Mr. Hugh had offered to stay with Ben in Miss 
Jule’s place and Letty to watch with her, but a 
Sfrim “No” had been her answer. 

In the middle of the night Ben grew Avorse, and 
in spite of his courage he groaned with pain, and 
stretched his paws to his mistress as if for help, 
but could not otherwise move. She roused Martin 
and sent him to telephone the doctor, but the 
answer came that he Avas out and might not re- 
turn until morning. 

Miss Jule had felt from the first that Ben was 
fatally ill ; noAV she questioned herself as to hoAV 
far she should alloAv him to suffer under the 
chance that he might recover for a time, and thus 
spare her pain. 

More time passed, again he stretched out his 
paws and turned a pitiful look upon her that 
said, “ Help me, mistress, I cannot bear the pain.” 

“ Yes, old fellow, missy Avill help you. Put 
your head down and I Avill rub it — so. Martin, 
go to my locked closet and bring me the bottle 
labelled chloroform. Yes, that is right ; noAV that 
horse sponge there and the bit of newspaper.” 
She took the bottle Avith a hand that shook, 
poured some upon the sponge that she had thrust 
in a cone made of twisted paper. Then she raised 
the feverish nose resting upon her knee and gently 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


359 


covered it saying softly, “ Good-by my Ben, good- 
by dear Mr. Wolf.” That was all. 

A healthy animal often struggles at the scent 
of chloroform, but to the very ill it brings swift 
peace. Ben Uncas was in the happy hunting- 
grounds which were not far away. Then brave 
Miss Jule broke down and laid her head upon the 
tawny one and sobbed aloud. She was sitting 
thus when the doctor, having received her sum- 
mons on his tardy return home, crossed the floor 
with rapid tread. 

At first the doctor said that she should have had 
patience and given the medicine a longer chance 
to work. But later, that she had done well in 
stopping useless pain, for the sickness was typhoid 
distemper, and nothing could have saved old Ben. 

‘‘ I suppose that you are laughing to yourself, 
and thinking what an old fool I am to care so,” 
said Miss Jule, leaning wearily against the door 
post, a wild object with straws sticking in her hair, 
red-eyed and dishevelled in the dawning light. 

“I laugh at grief for a dog?” answered the 
doctor. “ Possibly once but not now, or ever again. 
Look at this,” and opening his watch he showed 
her the miniature of a dog painted on the inside 
cover. It was the head of a finely bred bull 
terrier with soft brown and white markings, and 


360 


DOGTOWN 


a broad browed face, for the technical term muz- 
zle could not be applied to one having all the 
thoughtful intelligence of a human being. 

“ That is Jim,” said the doctor, speaking slowly, 
and fixing his eyes upon the picture. 

“Oh, yes, I remember him,” said Miss Jule; 
“ he was rather small for his breed, and lame in his 
left hind leg, but compact and alert. He always 
used to ride about with you, and when you went 
indoors would sit and wait with an expression of 
patience in his eyes that seemed to say that he 
knew just what you were about, and that of course 
he expected you to take your time, do your work 
thoroughly, and not hurry ; but you’ve not brought 
him this season, have you?” 

The doctor shook his head, still keeping his eyes 
upon the miniature and continued : “ I reared Jim 
from a pup, and it seems as if there never was a 
time that he was so young but what he understood 
what I said almost before I spoke the words ; he 
travelled everywhere with me, and was a compan- 
ion for work as well as play. If I went to a hotel, 
in a day he knew at which floor our room was, 
and where the elevator should stop. He knew 
my telephone call, and would bark at me when 
the bell rang it. If I was at the office, he at home, 
I could call him to come to me if some one lowered 





► 



Jim {^Seeley photo). 


4 



BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


363 


the receiver to liis range. lie could carry iiiiiii- 
bers in his head, too, that is, as far as four ; above 
that he was uncertain. 

“ One day, three years or so ago, while I was 
waiting at a railway station not far from Boston, 
in some strange way a train struck Jim and hurled 
him upon a bank above. It may be that he re- 
fused the train right of way ; however it was, 
the crowd that gathered said he was done for, 
and should be put out of misery. But bruised, 
his leg broken at the hip, and maimed though he 
was when I picked him up, Jim looked at me and 
I at him, and we agreed to make a fight for it. 
I took him into Boston to the hospital. We 
won; his leg was set, and for a time it did well, 
and we went about in company once more ; but 
the fracture join was brittle, it soon broke 
again, and was united with silver wire. For a 
couple of years he went about, a cheerful cripple, 
— but at that, worth all the other dogs in Chris- 
tendom to me, and seeming to grow keener witted 
as his body was more dependent. 

“ Then the leg began to bother him, and I tried 
every known expedient short of amputation. If 
I had done that in time he might have lived 
longer, but I hesitated, and Jim died, conscious 
and knowing me. 


864 


DOGTOWN 


“ That was more than a year ago, but I have not 
forgotten. There never was but one Jim, and no 
other dog can be the same to me. One thing, 
though, Jim has done for his fellows, — he has made 
me think of and treat all dogs differently for his 
sake, and remembering him and what he was, 
knocking about as I do, I’m fast getting to be- 
lieve that dogs are almost the only friends one 
has that can be quite trusted. If a man is old 
or young, rich or poor, a dog sees no fault in his 
master.” 

A man seldom has the relief of tears that 
helps a woman, but instead, sorrow grasps his 
throat and chokes him, and there were tears 
in the doctor’s voice as he closed his watch 
on Jim’s portrait. 

^ * 

“ Do have a cup of coffee. Miss Jule, dear. You 
must be done up,” said Anna Maria, who also 
looked awry and as if she had been up all night, 
as she bustled into the stable with coffee-pot and 
cups on a tray, which she set on top of the nearest 
feed-bin, while Martin emerged from below, where 
he had been ducking his head in a pail of water 
in order to appear fully awake. “ And the doctor 
here, too ; he must be faintin’, for he was the fore 


BEN UNCAS’S LAST HUNT 


365 


half of the night at the Ridge with Squire Burley’s 
old mare, the drivin’ boy says,” she added, hurry- 
ing back to the house. 

Miss Jule tilled two cups, and handed one to 
the doctor. Anna Maria had forgotten the spoons, 
so they stirred the coffee with stout straws. 

Miss Jule raised the cup to her lips, and then 
paused, saying, “ To the friendship of two faithful 
dogs, Ben Uncas and Jim,” and they drank the 
coffee slowly and in silence. 

^ ^ * 

Quick was to have gone to his youthful new 
owners that same day, and Mr. Hugh thought- 
fully slipped over and took him away before Miss 
Jule awoke from her belated sleep, so that two 
members of the hunting club vanished at the 
same time, and it disbanded as if by mutual 
consent; for Waddles and Tip at least seemed 
to comprehend what had happened, and Colin, 
who was himself growing old, became more reli- 
able, and seldom left his mistress. 

“Let’s go up and hug Miss Jule and tell her 
how sorry we are, and lend her the sixlets for 
a week to ’muse her,” said tender-hearted Tommy, 
when he heard the news. 

“ Better not,” said Anne, who understood ; “ if 


366 


DOGTOWN 


it was Waddles, I would rather be let alone.” 
And when she, turning quickly, asked Waddles 
the familiar question, “Where is Ben? where is 
Mr. Wolf? ” instead of cheering and trotting off 
toward the gate as usual, to meet his friend, he 
never stirred, but gave her a reproachful look, and 
throwing back his head, bayed dismally. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 

Mr. Hugh’s promised field day with supper at 
Robin Hood’s Inn had, for various reasons, been 
postponed so often that, as Anne remarked, “ first it 
was to have been a hazel-nut party, then a hunt for 
hickory and chestnuts, but now both are over, so if 
it doesn’t happen soon, it will have to be a skating 
party, which won’t be a bit of fun for the dogs.’’ 

The delay was nobody’s fault, however, for it 
had taken some time to clear the old farm and 
woodlots of briers and thorny bushes, so that it 
was fit for people to explore either afoot or on 
horseback. Then Mr. Hugh had to go away to 
meet some other wise chemists who also spent 
their time, as Anne once said of her friend, “ in 
mixing queer things together that were of no use 
to make something that was,” and tell them of 
a perfectly new smell he had discovered. 

Next, Tommy had a bad sore throat, which, 
knowing they usually lasted a week, he concealed 
367 


368 


DOGTOWN 


for two days, though swallowing hurt him piti- 
fully, lest he should be housed and so miss the 
festivity, and if Mr. Hugli himself liad not dis- 
covered the state of the case, he might have been 
very ill indeed. 

It was toward afternoon of the second day of 
the discomfort that Mr. Hugh, riding slowly up 
the road, was stopped by Tommy, who came out 
of the back gate, looking anxiously behind him, 
as if he was afraid of being followed. Mr. Hugh 
halted with a half amused, half questioning ex- 
pression on his face, well knowing that Tommy 
wanted something of him, and called, “ What’s 
up, little chap?” b}^ way of greeting. 

Tommy clung to a leather stirrup and rested 
his cheek against it, for his legs were beginning 
to feel tired to the bone, which is one of the many 
bad things that a sore throat does to people, and 
asked in a voice that was so hoarse that it in- 
stantly attracted Mr. Hugh’s attention, “ Please, 
if Miss Letty is hurt or sick Saturday, will you 
have the riding and the clay pigeon shoot and all 
the rest of the party ? ” 

“No, of course not. Has anything happened 
to her?” asked Mr. Hugh, anxiously. 

“No, not yet; but there may, you see, ’cause 
this is only Tuesday.” 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 369 

“Nonsense!” ejaculated Mr. Hugh, feeling 
astonished at the sense of relief that came over 
him ; for, without realizing it, he was depending 
more and more upon the companionship of Miss 
J ule’s pretty niece, in spite of the fact that as he 
ceased teasing her and treating her like a child, 
she was taking her revenge, and had turned 
tables by always laughing at him and never seem- 
ing serious for a moment. 

“If — if Anne was sick, would you wait for 
her ? ” continued Tommy, more slowly. 

“ Of course I would.” 

“ W ell, if I was sick, really, truly sick, with a 
lumpy sore throat, I suppose — you wouldn’t stop 
the party for only me ? ” There was a quaver to 
the last words, and though the child kept his face 
hidden, Mr. Hugh noticed for the first time that 
his cheeks were fiushed, and the wdiole thing 
flashed across him. 

“ Of course I’ll wait,” he said heartily. “ It 
would never do to have the party a man short ; 
besides, w^hat would your sweetheart. Miss Letty, 
do ? You know you promised to show her how to 
shoot, and lend her your gun. Is the poor throat 
very sore ? Come up here and we will have a ride 
home round through the front gate, and tell that 
nice mother of ours all about it, and have it cured.” 


2b 


370 


DOGTOWN 


“ Yes, it’s sore, and it’s getting pretty tight, too, 
and I’m dreffle sleepy,” said Tommy, falling 
unconsciously into the trap, and leaning comfort- 
ably against Mr. Hugh, who had pulled him on to 
the saddle before him. But his anxiety had 
passed, so long as he did not miss the party ; a 
sore throat, in the nice sunny room that had been 
the nursery and was now set apart for illness, with 
a big open fire to watch, picture books, mother to 
sit by and read, or father to make up stories, and 
a dog or two for company when they went away, 
was indeed luxury. 

This, however, was the last delay, and the 
black frost kindly kept away, leaving the last 
week in October as beautiful and suitable as heart 
could desire. 

Beside the Hilltop and Happy Hall people, 
who were all intimate friends, Mr. Hugh had 
invited some of his own and Squire Burley’s men 
friends, also a handful of the village young people. 
In addition there was a Miss Varley stopping at 
the Scotts’. Her brother was a college chum of 
Pinkie’s big brother, and they were all three 
invited, as they were fond of sport, and good 
riders. 

The Varleys, who came from the south, where 
they hunt foxes altogether on horseback, suggested 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


371 


to Mr. Hugh that he should put corn-stalk or 
brush hurdles in some of the gateless gaps in 
his tumble-down stone fences, and have a drag- 
hunt over the course to break in the young 
hounds, who all told numbered a pack of twenty. 

Squire Burley was one of the few Hillside folk 
who owned a hunter, because in this section all 
the fox-hunting was a necessity, done in earnest, 
and afoot, with a swift death by bullet for the hen- 
roost robbers. The Squire opened his land for the 
drag-hunt, likewise Miss Jule and several small 
farmers, for all the crops were in but the stacks 
of corn stalks. A drag-hunt, as Anne explained 
to Miss Letty, “is when you put seeds that smell 
like a fox in a bag and drag it round early 
in the morning when the dew is heavy and holds 
the scent down. Then the dogs think it is a fox 
trail, and run like anything, and never find that 
there isn’t any fox until it’s too late to back out, 
and before the next time they forget all about 
how they were cheated.” 

“ You will be the only woman to follow,” Mr. 
Hugh had said to Miss Varley, when the arrange- 
ments were completed. “ Only two or three of 
our girls ride, and they never take fences, though 
Diana here is beginning to train for a huntress.” 

Anne had laughed softly at this, and glanced 


372 


DOGTOWN 


slyly at Miss Letty, for Mr. Hugh had caught 
them one morning when Anne was trying to 
coax her father’s horse, Tom, over an improvised 
hurdle composed of a rake handle set upon two 
small boxes, which collapsed upon the slightest 
provocation ; but he had not come in time to 
observe that Miss Letty, who was mounted on 
Miss Jule’s Brown Kate, could handle a horse 
very well, and already managed three of the four 
pasture bars ; neither did he know that several 
years back, when at school in England, she had 
spent her holidays with the daughters of a farm- 
ing squire to whom cross-country riding was as 
familiar a doing as eating breakfast. 

When the time was finally set, it chanced to 
fall upon the very last day of October. 

“Surely, the night is Hallowe’en, and so we 
can have apple and nut sports, and the like,” 
exclaimed Mrs. Carr, when Mr. Hugh went up to 
make the arrangements for the supper party 
which would fill two long tables, one in the 
dining room and another in the kitchen, making 
it necessary that one of Mr. Hugh’s maids as well 
as Mary Anne and Miss Jule’s Anna Maria should 
help the old lady. 

Mr. Hugh’s brake and the bus from the village 
were to transport the people to and fro, and there 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


373 


would be a picnic lunch on the rocks by the old 
mill-dam at noon ; one of Mr. Hugh’s first im- 
provements having been to repair the broken- 
down wall, so that the pond would be in good 
condition for skating, and he had, likewise, put 
up a small log shelter for the skaters. 

Tommy was the only small child invited; but 
Mr. Hugh knew that he could be trusted to amuse 
himself and curl up in any corner and go to sleep 
if he grew weary before going-home time came. 
Likewise, as such a field day was almost as rare as 
Christmas that “ comes but once a year,” his 
mother said that he might stay up with the others 
— that is, if he was able. 

When the day came, it was one of those wonder- 
ful forerunners of Indian summer; cool in the 
morning, warm, with a light breeze at noon, and 
at night clear with a piercing electric brightness 
rayed from the north. 

Most of the trees in the woods were bare, ex- 
cept a few oaks, the dead leaves were crisp to the 
tread, and witch hazel was in its strange yellow 
bloom in the hollows, but the leaves still clung in 
the orchards, and the honeysuckles on farmhouse 
porches were green and showed sprays of flowers. 

Anne and Tommy went to Hilltop with the 
very first load, which was compounded partly 


374 


DOGTOWN 


of dogs and partly of the “extras” that Mrs. 
Carr needed. Neither, of course, were to follow 
the drag-hunt, but they wanted to be on the 
spot, and Mr. Hugh had solemnly promised 
Tommy that if he followed a certain safe wood- 
path leading round about in a circle, that he 
should meet a rabbit face to face. While Anne, 
who delighted in Mrs. Carr’s kitchen, was to have 
the honour of making a batch of the celebrated 
seed cakes all by herself. Waddles, his wife, 
and his son Jack, leashed together for a wonder, 
rode up with their mistress, for it was not 
thought best to let them take their chances so 
early in the day with the rough-and-ready fox- 
hounds ; but as they were leaving the brake. 
Jack Waddles managed to slip loose and bolted 
off, much to Anne’s worriment. 

Tommy shielded his pockets carefully that morn- 
ing, for in them was concealed a secret that made 
him feel alternately important and then very 
guilty ; for he had a bag full of shot in each 
pocket, the blacksmith’s boy not only having 
shown him how to use it, but supplied him with 
it as well, in return for two enormous pumpkins 
that he had coveted for lantern making. 

When Anne went indoors, Mr. Hugh, who 
was riding about collecting forces and telling 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


375 


Martin, who had volunteered, exactly where to 
trail the drag, passed down the road on his way 
to meet the Varleys and show them the cut to 
Squire Burley’s, for the hounds were gathered 
there, as the start was to be from his orchard. 

Miss Varley certainly looked very well on a 
horse, and was perfectly aware of it. She wore 
a black skirt, a tight-fitting red coat and a small 
continental hat looped up with a cockade — a 
costume in which artists and illustrators had 
painted or sketched her; and she kept her horse 
continually curvetting and champing at the bit, as 
she made somewhat cutting remarks about what 
she termed “mere bab}^^ business,” and derided 
the local habit of shooting foxes, in contrast to the 
cross-country riding to which she was accustomed. 

As Mr. Hugh was explaining that the animals 
were so plentiful in this country of rocky caves 
that the farmers must keep them down in the 
easiest way, by locating the runs with the hounds 
and following afoot, — he glanced a bit ahead and 
saw, to his astonishment. Miss Letty mounted 
upon Brown Kate, waiting quietly opposite Squire 
Burley’s, Jack Waddles standing sentinel beside 
her ; and as he came near, she greeted him with 
an amused sort of smile, as if such things as 
following a drag were of daily occurrence. 


3T6 


DOGTOWN 


Mr. Hugh felt angry, and rather showed it ; 
but it was really a form that worry takes with 
some quite nice men. He was at heart afraid 
that she did not know how to ride, and might 
come to grief. He cared a great deal, but merely 
said, as if she liad been fifteen : “ What ! are you 
going? Was your aunt willing? I thought you 
and Anne would keep each other company until 
luncheon.” 

“Certainly, I am going,” she answered, flushing 
painfully at. having what both she and Miss Jule 
had meant for a surprise taken in such a way ; and 
added quickly, and rather at random : “ Have you 
had that old barbed wire fence taken down in the 
middle lot? You asked me to remind you of it, 
but I quite forgot until this morning ; and it may 
cripple some of the dogs.” 

“ It’s rather late now,” said Mr. Hugh, annoyed 
to realize that he too had forgotten. “ But no one 
with common sense need go anywhere near it, 
and if they do, they must take their chances.” 

At this moment the hounds were put on the 
trail, and the party started off. Miss Letty, who 
looked very girlish in the white cloth shirt waist 
and white felt sailor hat that replaced the linen 
and straw of summer, rode witli Pinkie Scott’s 
brother, who admired her exceedingly. “ Follow 









arr;- r '• V .' 




. > .•• «.• r 


* >•. 






\ . 
















t > 


“Miss Letty was waiting with a smile 




THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


379 


me, and we will show them steel heels,” he said 
under his breath, cutting across the orchard, 
and Miss Letty, holding a firm rein and leaning 
slightly forward, followed. 

Meanwhile Tommy and Waddles, whom, after 
much difficulty, he had coaxed to follow him, 
started from Robin Hood’s Inn to hunt on their 
own account, the way indicated by Mr. Hugh 
being very plain, and through the part of the 
land where the drag-hunt was not. 

At first Waddles moved about here and there, 
treeing squirrels, digging spasmodically for ground 
mice, who were travelling in the burrows of moles, 
while Tommy wandered down the bed of a dried- 
up brook, his gun held in a sportsmanlike grip, 
and his eyes searching the trees for the big owl 
he promised himself that he would shoot, and ask 
Baldy to stuff as full as life to grace the top of 
Miss Letty’s desk. 

But it often happens, when one goes a-hunt- 
ing, that the birds, beasts, and fishes have engage- 
ments elsewhere. A hawk soared over toward 
the river, and crows were quarrelling up in their 
roost in th& cedars, but the only birds that came 
near Avere a downy woodpecker, a nuthatch, and 
a chickadee, and Anne’s brother would not think 
of even aiming at these. 


380 


DOGTOWN 


Tommy walked on in silence, a state to which 
he was quite a stranger, until he began to feel 
that not to speak even to a dog gave one a queer, 
chilly feeling ; then he noticed that he had wan- 
dered out of the beaten path, and he stopped to 
look about, and whistled for Waddles. He was 
not afraid, for he was quite accustomed to taking 
care of himself, but he was disappointed about the 
rabbit, and angry with Waddles because he had 
gone off without finding a trail. Then he spied a 
quantity of hickory nuts lying on the rocks where 
a squirrel had evidently collected them, and he 
began to crack them with a stone, and pick out 
the meats very deliberately, which showed that 
Tommy was tired. 

Presently he heard a sound close behind that 
reminded him of the noise the mother screech- 
owl had made when she snapped her beak. Get- 
ting up cautiously he looked about. There, in 
deep shade, perched on the gnarled root of a hick- 
ory tree that overlapped the rock, was a great owl 
with a smooth, round head, blue-black eyes, and 
brown, barred feathers. The bird sat still without 
blinking, watching a small hole under the root. 
Tommy stood still, scarcely breathing, in his won- 
der at the bird, hoping that it would not see him and 
flap in his face as the screech-owl had in Anne’s. 




►f 






";m 


7 r •>■ 




w • 


1 ^ 


' %i» • »*• r - 1 





V- 

■rf •■^ 1 *^ '^^^y' 2 r- 


>. 




« «• ' 
r 




X'X C> 


--i.-T' V'% .'»*• V,* ^ ' 


- v: 

"Tj ■' • 




V • 

Jjn" 


_' t 


'-^ 

^ . tPB* ^ 


> 

1 

* 

i- 

If 

. -^ ** 

/ <■ ' 

r 

• 1 

' » • 

' /i • - '■ 



. . /• • W-^ 


♦fc 

■ 






*.^i- • 
’•* 


■ Ei 


i® :'V-- • 









‘**::*- ' usSSHI' yw ••■■t ■*, .-»<rii* 






i ♦ 



*v^.^,.-. ’t 


♦ k' 





-v-. ....ft* AfcS- 




il.’ \ 






Tommy walked on in Silence 



THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


383 


Suddenly a young chipmunk, with back and tail 
striped like a garter snake’s, ran out of the hole. 
One of the hooked claws made a grab, snap 
went the beak, the little animal was secured, and 
the owl, spreading its 
broad wings, flew into 
a hemlock, where it be- 
gan to eat at its leisure. 

Then only did Tommy 
remember his gun, and 
about his promise to 
Miss Letty. 

“Never mind,” he said 
to himself ; “ father says 
owls are usefuller than 
most things they eat, 
and that they oughtn’t 
to be killed, so I’m glad 
I let him go; but rab- 
bits eat lots of our garden things every year. I 
must look for that bunny, because it’s here some- 
where, for when Mr. Hugh says so, it always 
happens.” 

Tommy found his way back to the path, and 
met Waddles hurrying along; he also had found 
poor hunting, and was now willing to follow. 
After walking some distance, and having several 



384 


DOGTOWN 


false alarms (for when on the watch a couple of 
beech leaves or a tuft of wild grass take fanciful 
shapes), Tommy actually saw a pair of long ears 
held erect, and a pair of bright eyes glistening 
around the corner of a rock just before him. His 
first fear was that Waddles should see the prize 
and chase it away before he had a chance to aim 
and cock his trigger, which was quite a feat, the 
spring was so strong. For once. Waddles neither 
scented nor suspected anything, but kept close to 
Tommy’s heels, nosing about in the moss. 

One step more, the child raised his gun, shut 
his eyes, and fired, and then a reaction came, and 
he didn’t like to open them again, so sure he 
was of having killed the pretty creature. Finally 
he peeped a little, then stared, for there sat the 
rabbit as round-eyed and placid as before ; it had 
not even moved ! 

Tommy’s impulse to fire again was stopped by 
the thought that it would be very mean to shoot 
such a tame animal, and that it must be some one’s 
pet, though it was not Pinkie Scott’s, for every- 
body in Dog town knew her rabbits by heart, they 
had carried them home to her so many times, when 
they had strayed off gardening on their own hook. 

Waddles sauntered slowly forward, saw the 
rabbit, and making a spring, knocked it over with 



'•■*1*.. 'j ■ ‘ 


vV ■, : ' ■ ,.■- ]» . 

a l*' ^ ^ ' .^^5- •■ 




1. •-* 


1 

I 


msA ' - 


E <>0 



V 








Tommy meets the Rabbit. 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


387 


one blow of his paw; but still it did not move. 
Then Tommy saw that it was a . stuffed beast 
mounted on a little wooden platform, to which 
moss and dead leaves were glued. When he had 
recovered from his astonishment he was ready to 
cry with rage. “It was too mean of Mr. Hugh,” 
he muttered. “He promised — he promised, and 
then he didn’t do it.” Then the exact words of the 
promise came to him; it was that he was to “meet 
a rabbit face to face.” “I s’pose I have,” he con- 
tinued; “only he didn’t say its insides would be 
stuffing instead of real.” But when he picked up 
his gun, which he had dropped, and looked it 
over, and felt the bag which sagged his pocket, he 
remembered that he had forgotten to put any shot 
in the gun. Then he walked along, leaving the 
poor stuffed rabbit resting on one ear, wondering 
which was the worst, to have shot at a real rabbit 
with no shot, or to have been fooled by a stuffed 
one, and at the moment that he made up his mind 
that the first would be the most aggravating, he 
turned into the low meadow that was divided from 
its neighbour by the old barbed wire fence, and 
from which the lane led to Robin Hood’s Inn. 

A yelping of dogs sounded afar off in the rear, 
with straggling cries on both sides of him and in 
front. Off started Waddles, quickly disappearing 


388 


DOGTOWN 


in the bushes, and Tommy followed as fast as his 
legs could carry him, for he heard a voice and the 
trampling of hoofs, and if the run was over, it 
must be luncheon time. 

All unknown to him the drag-hunt had split in 
two, deaf Mrs. Happy being the innocent first 
cause. She had gone to Robin Hood’s Inn with 
Anne, and had curled up contentedly in the sunny 
porch in company with old Laddie, when presently 
an odour reached her nose that caused her to 
spring up, sniff the air, and start headlong down 
the lane to the road, where, on crossing the stone 
fence, she struck the trail of a skunk, startled from 
his daytime lodging by the hounds who had 
recently passed close by. Nose to ground, she 
gave tongue and followed the skunk, who had 
zigzagged about the fences for a time before 
making off to another hiding-place he had by the 
river. Further down, the hounds in doubling 
crossed this new trail, and some of the young 
ones, hearing Happy’s cry, were drawn off upon 
it, part of the riders following, only to come upon 
impassable rocks by the river cut. 

* * * * ^ 

The barking came nearer, and Happy, Waddles, 
and Jack dashed past Tommy and up the lane; 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


389 


at the same time he saw a riderless horse in the 
outer field, and something seemed to move near 
the barbed wire fence that ran between. 

“ It’s one of those poor hounds, and that wicked 
wire has caught him,” cried Tommy, running 
toward the spot with his eyes flashing and his 
little fists doubled up, for, like Anne, he could 
not bear to have animals suffer pain. 

But when he got near he saw that it was not 
a hound that was caught by the wire, but Mr. 
Hugh! For an instant Tommy was frightened, 
but as soon as he saw that his friend was not hurt, 
but merely held fast by the clothes in a dozen 
places, the fun of the situation struck him, and he 
capered about shouting, and making comments, 
and asking questions, all in one breath. 

“ Ah, Mr. Hugh, you do look so funny I If only 
Anne were here with her camera to take a picture I 
If you’ll wait long enough. I’ll go fetch her, for 
you’re hooked up just like when Pinkie Scott 
reached after lilies and fell in the pond, and they 
pulled her out from behind with the hay -fork. 
Did the horse tumble you in like that ? ” 

The truth was that Mr. Hugh had dismounted 
to let down some bars for the people who had 
gone astray, and his horse, feeling fresh, gal- 
loped off. In trying to head him off by a short 


I 


390 


DOGTOWN 


cut, Mr. Hugh had met the barbed wire fence, 
seen a gap between the strands, dashed at it, 
only to be caught by a couple of slack wires 
when halfway through, in such a position that 
if he let go the only hold he had upon a half 
rotten post, he must fall upon a rusty coil that 
guarded the tumble-down stone fence below. 
Barbed wire at best is cruel stuff, and when it is 
old and rusty every scratch it gives means danger. 

“ Stop bawling so, for pity’s sake, and see if 
you can help me out of this mess before the others 
come ; try to pry the wire with a stick,” said Mr. 
Hugh, in so hoarse a whisper that Tommy in- 
stantly obeyed, or rather tried to, but the sticks 
at hand were either too small or rotten, and at 
every twist the poor man made the hooked wire 
seemed to take new hold. 

At this moment the snapping of twigs and the 
padding sound of hoofs on grass made Mr. Hugh 
give a painful writhe to look over his shoulder; 
his discomfiture was complete, for there was Miss 
Letty. 

She slipped quickly to the ground, and tether- 
ing Brown Kate to a branch, came forward, 
looking, as Tommy told Anne that night in the 
privacy of his little bed, “the colour you feel 
when you’ve waited too long for your breakfast.” 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


391 


Seeing that Mr. Hugh had not been thrown, but 
was merely snared, she pulled herself together and 
hesitated for a moment ; while he, putting on an 
air of bravado which was very funny under the 
cramped circumstances, said : “ Yes, here I am, 
and having parted with my common sense I’m 
taking the consequences, and you have your re- 
venge. When all the party have had a good look 
at me, I suppose some one will help me out.” 

Miss Letty did not answer though she was 
afraid he would hear her heart beat it was 
thumping so loudly, but looking about with a 
swift glance spied Tommy’s gun that had fallen 
unnoticed in the grass. Seizing it, she slipped 
it between the two furthest apart wires, manag- 
ing to catch a barb in the muzzle, and pried, 
while with the handle of her riding crop she 
pulled back the two loose strands wdth all her 
strength. There was a sound of tearing cloth, 
a pocket burst open, throwing its contents in 
among the leaves, and Mr. Hugh crawled out on 
his hands and knees, literally at Miss Letty’s feet. 
Just as she stretched out her hand to help him, 
lest he slip backward, one of the papers that 
Tommy was cramming back into the letter-case 
caught her eye ; it was the picture of herself that 
Anne had taken, and which had disappeared as if 


392 


DOGTOWN 


by magic. Mr. Hugh, if it was possible, turned 
redder than he was before he was released; but 
Letty, with quiet tact, quickly unfastened Brown 
Kate and, scrambling into the saddle by the aid 
of a stone at the fence corner, cantered off in 
the opposite direction to where Mr. Hugh’s horse 
was now quietly grazing. 

For a minute the big man and the little one 
stood eying each other curiously. Then Tommy 
broke the pause: “Now isn’t Miss Letty common 
sensible and useful enough to be your sweetheart, 
Mr. Hugh, even if she is pretty ? And wouldn’t 
that red and black girl have shouted if she’d seen 
you in the fence ? ” 

“ Yes, Tommy,” said Mr. Hugh, quietly; “you 
are a better judge than I was ; but Miss Letty 
does not wish to be the sweetheart of an old bear 
like me.” 

“No,” said Tommy, candidly, “I guess not, for 
I’ve heard her say you were a bear, and so has 
Anne.” And though Tommy handed back the 
letter book containing the picture without further 
comment, he had seen, and when one has seen a 
thing, one can hardly unsee it again. Mr. Hugh 
secured his horse and regained the road. Tommy 
riding in front of him, before he overtook the 
others ; and the beseeching look that the big man 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


393 


gave the little one as he swung him to the ground 
kept him quiet concerning the barbed wire episode, 
at least for some hours. 

****** 

At the end of an afternoon spent in archery, 
and shooting clay pigeons, winding up with a great 
game of hide and seek, in which old and young, 
men and women, joined, the last one to be found 
receiving a prize of the beautifully painted head 
of a foxhound, supper and the fire warmth made 
the party good-naturedly drowsy. 

Miss Varley, who won the prize, had hidden 
herself beyond finding by dropping into the 
hollow trunk of an old chestnut tree ; but the 
agility that took her in did not get her out 
again, which was only accomplished by a long, 
strong pull by two of the most muscular men of 
the party, engineered by Mr. Hugh. This, how- 
ever, did not count, and being much elated and 
in high spirits, she gradually stirred the company 
into story-telling, camp-fire fashion, with the 
difference that no one was to talk for a longer 
time than the faggot he or she threw on the 
flames should burn. This caused more than one 
tale to break off before the climax, and the 
guessing and merriment that ensued soon made 


394 


DOGTOWN 


every one wide awake again, with the exception 
of Tommy, who was destined to finish the even- 
ing under the blue and white curtains of Mrs. 
Carr’s ample four poster. So, as he said he had 
a story to tell, he was given the next turn. Lik- 
ing quick results, he picked a handful of white 
pine cones from the basket instead of a stick, 
and as they flashed into a juicy flame began 
deliberately : — 

“Once there was a barbed wire fence on top 
of a stone wall. It ought to have been taken 
down, ’cause it was rusty and wicked, but it 
wasn’t, ’cause somebody forgot.” — Seeing signs 
of agitated interest in at least two of his audience. 
Tommy spoke faster — “This old fence was very 
cruel indeed, and it caught things tighter than 
spiders and flies, but the things were bigger. 
First it caught a dear little dog named Jill, and 
Mrs. Carr, when she was the Herb Witch, pulled 
her out and mended her. The next thing that 
barbed wire fence caught was bigger and funnier 
— a — great — big — ” “Time’s up,” called Mr. 
Hugh, before Tommy could say another word, at 
the moment that the blaze vanished in blackness, 
after the fashion of pine-cone fires ; and if you 
said even a single word after time was called, 
you must pay a fine. 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


395 


However, as Anne led Tommy away, fairly 
stumbling with the sleep that was in his heels if 
not in his head, he turned, hung back, and said to 
Mr. Hugh, in a piping voice that could be heard 
above all the babble, “You needn’t have looked 
so scared, I wasn’t going to tell it just zachly the 
way it was — nor about that picture Anne took 
of Miss Letty — nor — ” but the closing door kindly 
shut Tommy off, and though the entire party 
suspected a joke of some kind, only one beside 
the conscious pair saw through the whole affair. 
This was Miss Jule, who had seen Mr. Hugh 
slip the photograph into his pocket that after- 
noon long ago, before the sixlets were born. She 
had also chanced to see from a distance the barbed 
wire fence episode, and for some reason known 
to herself a motherly smile of content lighted 
her plain features, until Letty, glancing shyly at 
her aunt, wondered why she had never before 
thought her fine looking. 

Mrs. Carr’s various combinations of apples, nuts, 
candles, rings, flour, and pails of water, that go to 
make up Hallowe’en tricks, produced more good- 
natured fun, especially when Miss Letty, after 
swinging it thrice over her head, threw the apple 
paring over her left shoulder, causing Anne to 
exclaim at the initial it made, which was promptly 


396 


DOGTOWN 


eaten by Tip, who loved fruit, before any one else 
could decipher it. 

Then the stage and brake came up, and there 
was a search for wraps, while Anne was as- 
tounded and mystified to find Miss Letty hug- 
ging poor Happy and stuffing her with cold 
chicken. She had been shut up supperless in a 
back passageway because she had been disobedi- 
ent and spoiled the hunt, and had also gone too 
near the skunk. 

Mr. Hugh’s horse had been put up in Miss 
Jule’s stable, so he rode that far in the brake with 
the others, and stopped off to get him. As there 
was no reason why he should wait outside in the 
cold, he went in with Miss Jule, who hurried off 
to make some coffee (Anna Maria having re- 
tired), as she said, to “ settle their wits, after too 
much supper and too much laughter,” leaving the 
two standing before the hall fire, feeling equally 
awkward. Colin and Hamlet, who had stayed at 
home, hearing voices, came racing from the kitchen 
hall and greeted Letty with an unfeigned joy that 
tumbled her hair down on her shoulders, while 
Tip, not to be outdone, sprang upon the back of a 
near-by chair and, paws on her shoulder, gave her 
a kiss on the tip of the nose. 

“ Love me, love my dog,” quoted Miss Letty, 


THE BARBED WIRE FENCE 


397 


struggling with her pets, and, after the fashion of 
flustered people, meaning nothing in particular by 
her words. 

“ I do,” answered Mr. Hugh, promptly, having 
found himself at last. 

“ Ah ! ” was what Miss Jule said, when she re- 
turned with the coffee fifteen minutes later. 

That night Miss Letty wrote a long letter to 
her Aunt Marie, telling her that she liked Ameri- 
can customs so much that she had decided to re- 
main in the country. The letter also said other 
things which prevented Aunt Marie from accus- 
ing Aunt Jule of unfair influence, which was quite 
fortunate. 

Before the week was over everybody had heard 
the news, and everybody was glad, which was quite 
wonderful, and Tommy had the honour of being 
the messenger. This office he filled most 
thoroughly, adding details from time to time to 
entertain his hearers, that were certainly not a 
part of his commission. 

Presently, one rainy day. Miss Letty herself came 
down, as Anne said, for a good talk, and before 
seating herself with the children and dogs on the 
hearth rug, she pulled a round bundle from her 
ulster pocket and tossed it to Anne, who exclaimed 
upon opening it, for out fell two beautiful silver 


898 


DOGTOWN 


bands, lined with chamois, upon which letters 
were engraved. 

“ Why, they are dog collars ! Who are they 
for?” she exclaimed, holding them toward the 
light to read the letters. 

“ For Mr. and Mrs. Waddles, and they are from 
U8^ because, — because, you see, we think that if 
Happy had not mixed up the drag-hunt we might 
have kept on misunderstanding and wandering 
around Robin Hood’s barn always.” 

“They are perfectly lovely, and too good for 
every day,” said Anne, fastening one on Happy, 
but having to coax Waddles, who was always sus- 
picious of new-fangled things. “ But don’t you 
really, truly think, dear Miss Letty, that the poor 
old barbed wire fence deserves a silver collar, 
too?” 


CHAPTER XV 


THE WEDDING 

The wedding was in May, exactly a year from 
the day of the poison ivy luncheon. All Dogtown 
was invited, and filled the gray stone church on 
the hillside to overflowing, even though the dogs 
attended by proxy, except in a few rare cases. 
Laddie was one of these, for Mrs. Carr never went 
without him, and he sat quietly beside her like a 
little old man, with bent head and silvery locks. 

Mrs. Carr herself was resplendent in a new 
black cloak, and a close silk bonnet of the bride’s 
making took the place of the old pointed hood. 
Her gift was her precious old Lowestoft teaset. 
“ I’ve had my pride o’ it,” she said, when Miss 
Jule had remonstrated with her, “and when I gie 
a gift I like it o’ gude stuff.” 

Anne was maid of honour, and Tommy wept 
bitterly because he could not be best man. How- 
ever, he managed to be quite prominent as it was. 

The day was perfect, and both the church and 
399 


400 


DOGTOWN 


the quaint, low-studded rooms at the Hilltop 
Farm were turned into gardens by the great 
sprays and wreaths of white lilacs and dogwood 
with which Miss Jule and the Happy Hall people 
had covered even the walls. 

The dogs of all three families had been brushed, 
and their collars decorated with immense bows of 
white ribbon ; but they were carefully locked up 
during the ceremony, to be ready to appear at the 
breakfast, for if Waddles had gone near enough to 
the church to have heard the organ play, his bay- 
ing would have certainly brought the wedding 
march to an untimely end. 

As it was, all promised well, and as Miss Letty 
crossed the vine-draped church porch, the people 
who watched thought that never had there been a 
sweeter girl bride. On the side nearest to Anne a 
dimple that would come and go, and threatened to 
end in a smile, broke the seriousness of her face, 
and the cause of.it was at first hidden by the folds 
of her veil and train. It was Tip, the devoted 
spaniel, who, climbing out of the window of the 
room where he was prisoned, had dropped first to 
the porch and then the ground, and caught up 
with the procession just in time to slip into the 
church unnoticed, except by her he was fol- 
lowing. 


THE WEDDING 


401 


However, he behaved like a gentleman, and sat 
sedately on the top step during the ceremony. 



This, together with the white bow he wore, caused 
some of the village gossips, who were not invited, 
to say that the whole thing was planned, and was 



402 


DOGTOWN 


a disgrace to the town ; but wise people know that 
such remarks are as much a part of a wedding as 
the ring and veil. 

Tommy, who with his 
mother and father occupied 
one of the front pews, crept 
out and drew gradually 
nearer to where stood the 
family lawyer and friend, 
on whose arm the bride had 
entered. In another mo- 
ment he had climbed into 
a chancel chair that was 
partly concealed by a col- 
umn ; from this place he 
had an unimpeded view. 
It was the first time that 
the child had ever been to 
a wedding, and the doings 
had all the fascination of entire novelty. 

So when the clergyman, looking up, asked dis- 
tinctly, “Who giveth this woman to be married 
to this man ? ” Tommy shouted “ Me ! ” without 
the slightest suspicion that it was not what was 
expected of him, adding indignantly to an usher 
who made haste to lift him down, amid the 
natural ripple of laughter, “ I had to, of course. 




THE WEDDING 


403 


’cause she’d rather, and now she isn’t my sweet- 
heart any more.” 

The wedding breakfast was very jolly, at least 
everybody said so, and all sorts of jokes were 
mingled with the congratulations. The minis- 
ter, who was very bashful, astonished himself by 
saying that he was glad that they had finished 
with all the barbed wires of life before the wed- 
ding, and then suddenly kissed the bride, amid 
general applause. 

The wedding cake boxes were white with ini- 
tials, and a dog’s head. Miss Jule’s crest, in silver. 
And the gossips had a second spasm when they 
learned beyond dispute that there were souvenirs, 
of Miss Letty’s invention, for all who owned dogs 
— small-sized Bologna sausages wrapped in silver 
foil, and tied with white. 

After it was all over, — and the bride had gone 
away, and the last shoe been thrown, while Miss 
Jule was removing rice from her neck, saying to 
a rather mournful relative, “ Of course they will 
be happy, they can’t help it, for they not only 
like but dislike the same things,” — Tip appeared 
from upstairs with a crestfallen air, and in his 
mouth a white slipper, one that his idol had just 
discarded, which had dropped to the floor of her 


room. 


404 


DOGTOWN 


Coming out on the 
porch, after several ef- 
forts he succeeded in 
sitting upright, a trick 
Letty had taught him 
in imitation of Hamlet, 
supporting his unsteady 
spine against the post. 
Then, as no Miss Letty 
came to applaud him, he 
dropped the slipper on 
the step as a challenge, 
and mounted guard over 
it until night came, when 
he carried it with him 
to bed unchidden. 

^ ^ ^ 

“ Mistress,” said Wad- 
dles, as he sat watching 
her that night while she put away her trinkets, 
and brushed and braided her hair, “ I wish that I 
hadn’t eaten so much of that round black lumpy 
cheese that Miss Letty cut with the great knife.” 

‘‘ So do I,” said Anne, with a sigh ; “ but then, 
Waddlekins, you see Mr. Hugh and Miss Letty 
will never be married to each other again, and we 



THE WEDDING 


405 


must be willing to bear a little pain inside for the 
sake of our friends ! ” 

Then the Mayor of Dogtown and Diana his 
mistress slept the sleep of wedding cake, which 
is heavy with dreams ! 



JH(?r? qr)<i tl?? /lijijals. 



Sj'vVi,v^, »■ 





^ ’ r ^ ? ii .V . - 




:*«dK0 J .. ‘ -j 

rm 


j 


:i. 3 


r* 


■ *v 


I 





•* 


%rt 


^ r 

♦ / . 

^.1 ' 


•i^*' 






Four=Footed Americans and Their Kin 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

Edited by Frank M. Chapman. Illustrated by 
Ernest Seton-Thompson 

Cloth. Crown 8vo, $1.50, net 

“ It desei^es commendation for its fascinating style, and for the fund of in- 
formation which it contains regarding the familiar and many unfamiliar animals 
of this country. It is an ideal book for children, and doubtless older folk will 
find in its pages much of interest.” — The Dial. 

“ Books like this are cups of delight to wide-awake and inquisitive girls and 
boys. Here is a gossipy history of American quadrupeds, bright, entertaining, 
and thoroughly instructive. Ihe text, by Mrs. Wright, has all the fascination 
that distinguishes her other outdoor books.” — The Independent. 


Citizen Bird 

Scenes from Bird-life in Plain English for a Beginner 

By MABEL O. WRIGHT and Dr. ELLIOTT CODES 
Profusely illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 

Cloth. Crown 8vo. $1.50, liet 

“ When two writers of marked ability in both literature and natural history 
write to produce a work giving scope to their special talents, the public has 
reason to expect a masterpiece of its kind. In the ‘ Citizen Bird,' by Mabel O. 
Wright and Dr. Elliott Coues, this expectation is realized — seldom is the plan 
of a book so admirably conceived, and in every detail so excellently fulfilled.'” 

— The Dial. 

“ There is no other book in existence so well fitted for arousing and direct- 
ing the interest that all children feel toward the birds.” — Tribune, Chicago. 


Birdcraft 

A Field-Book of Two Hundred Song, Game, and IVater Birds 
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 
With eighty full-page plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 

“ One of the best books that amateurs in the study of ornithology can find 
. . . direct, forcible, plain, and pleasing.” — Chautauquan. 

“ Of books on birds there are many, all more or less valuable, but ‘ Bird- 
craft,’ by Mabel O. Wright, has peculiar merits that will endear it to amateur 
ornithologists. ... A large number of excellent illustrations throw light on 
the text and help to make a book that will arouse the delight and win the grati- 
tude of every lover of birds.” — Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 


Tommy=Anne and the Three Hearts 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 
With many illustrations by Albert D. Blashfield 

Cloth. Crown 8vo. $1.50 

" This book is calculated to interest children in nature, and grown folks, too, 
will find themselves catching the author’s enthusiasm. As for Tommy-Anne 
herself, she is bound to make friends wherever she is known. The more of such 
books as these, the better for the children. One Tommy-Anne is worth a whole 
shelf of the average juvenile literature." — The Critic, 


Wabeno, the Magician 

The Sequel to Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts 
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 
Fully illustrated by Joseph M. Gleeson 

^ Cloth. Crown 8vo. $1.50 

^ “ Mrs. Wright’s book teaches her young readers to use their eyes and ears, 

but it does more in that it cultivates in them a genuine love for nature and for 
every member of the animal kingdom. The best of the book is that it is never 
dull." — Boston^ Budget. 

ri ■ W'«v . . 

The Dream Fox Story Book 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 
i \ . With eighty drawings by OLIVER Herford - 

Cloth. Small quarto. $1.50, net 

Mrs. Wright’s new book for young people recounts the marvellous adven- 
tures of Billy Benton, his acquaintance with the Dream Fox and the Night Mare, 
and what came of it. It differs from the author’s previous stories, as it is purely 
imaginative and .somewhat similar to “ Alice in Wonderland." 

There are eight full-page illustrations, showing Billy at moments of greatest 
interest, and also seventy drawings scattered throughout the text. These illus- 
trations are by Oliver Herford, who has entered thoroughly into the spirit of the 
text, so that the pictures seem an integral part of the story. 


THE. MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 


Flowers and Ferns in Their Haunts 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

With illustrations from photographs by the author and 
J. Horace McFarland 

Cloth. i2mo. $ 2 . 50 t net 

“ The reader of Mrs. Wright’s handsome volume will wend his way 
into a fairy world of loveliness, and find not only serious wildwood lore, 
but poetry also, and sentiment and pictures of the pen that will stay with 
him through winter days of snow and ice. ... A careful and interesting 
companion, its many illustrations being particularly useful.” 

— New York Tribune. 

“ There is no question that this is a book in which you must be 
examined before you are fit to pass into the country.” — New York Sun. 

” The illustrations are altogether worthy of the text ... a series of 
exquisite pictures of flowers and ferns.” — London Daily News. 


The Friendship of Nature 

y4 New England Chronicle of Birds and Flowers 
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

i8mo. Cloth, 75 cts. Large Paper, $3.00 

” A dainty little volume, exhaling the perfume and radiating the hues 
of both cultivated and wild flowers, echoing the songs of birds, and 
illustrated with exquisite pen pictures of bits of garden, field, and wood- 
land scenery. The author is an intimate of nature. She relishes its 
beauties with the keenest delight, and describes them with a musical 
flow of language that carries us along from a ‘ May Day ’ to a ‘ Winter 
Mood ’ in a thoroughly sustained effort ; and as we drift with the current 
of her fancy and her tribute to nature, we gather much that is inform- 
atory, for she has made a close study of the habits of birds and the 
legendry of flow'ers.” — Richmond Dispatch. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 






tNOV 1902 




library of congress 


> « « • 1 % . 

; j : . * . . 

; i : : J ; : : 

J i 

» . . . • . « 

; \ . 1 • * 

. • 4 « 4 

t «•»••• • 

« • • • 1 


a ^ J j > 1 • 

; « « i * . 

. ‘ J , i 

1 . r. { < i 

1 

, , 1 • . . a J 















































